Master Harris
by thenextcujo
Summary: Xander goes as a more famous soldier for Halloween... chap 17 uploaded
1. Call to Arms

**Disclaimer: Don't own you know the rest.**

**Summary: Xander goes as a more famous soldier. AU sort of, read and you'll understand.**

**Chapter 1**

Xander suppressed a growl as the kid in front of him grabbed the last toy gun. His plan to go as a soldier appeared to be shot to hell, unless he wanted to go as a medic or something. He turned and saw Buffy and Willow fawning over an elegant noblewoman's dress that Buffy was planning to wear. He sighed, wishing he could afford to have that extravagant a costume. The more he thought about it, the less walking around with an eight inch plastic gun and worn out fatigues appealed to him.

Xander looked towards the end of the store, where he caught a glint of something polished and shiny caught his eye. He weaved his way through an aisle of witch and monster costumes that obscured his view and once the costume came into full view he gasped. It was perfectly crafted, and looked absolutely badass. The full body costume sat inside a glass case, apparently standing of its own accord. Xander admired the craftsmanship of the armour, and cast an appraising glass at the guns it held in each hand. Much more impressive than the plastic piece of crap he was looking at earlier.

"Can I help you?" Xander jumped a bit, then turned around to see the shopkeeper standing behind him smiling. "I see you're admiring the costume. It looks like it would fit you just right, would you be interested in making a purchase?"

Xander gave a small laugh. "There's no way I can afford this. It looks like it's worth more than a cheap car."

"Looks can be deceiving." The shopkeeper replied. "Well, Mr..."

"Harris. Xander Harris." Xander said extending his hand.

"Ethan Rayne." The shopkeeper replied shaking Xander's hand. "Well how about you try it on to see if it fits? If it doesn't then we won't worry about it, if it does then we can perhaps we can work something out." Ethan moved forward and unlocked the case, taking the large costume out. As he did, Xander noticed there was another case about the same size beside it, which was empty. "There's a change room over there." Ethan said, handing the considerable mass of costume to Xander and directing him to the back of the store.

Xander smiled and moved around. Though the suit fit snugly it was quite comfortable, as though it had been custom made for him. The interlocking armour allowed him to move normally and did not bind in the least. Xander grinned as he lowered the helmet onto his head and was surprised to find that the golden visor did not tint his vision in the least. He sighed, realizing that this costume might be worth even more than he had thought. He quickly changed out of the four piece armour suit and gathered it up, then headed out of the change room. Ethan stood there smiling and waiting patiently. "Well my boy?" He asked.

"It fits perfect." Xander replied. "But there's no way I can afford it.

"I'm only interested in making sure that people get the costumes that they want." Ethan assured him. "How does ten dollars sound?"

Xander's eyes nearly bugged out. 'The metal on this suit alone has to be worth more than that,' he thought. However, Xander certainly wasn't going to pass up a deal like that. "Done." He agreed, handing over the money and gathering the costume into a large, tough bag that Ethan had given him. He joined Buffy and Willow as they were exiting the store. "Hey Buff, Wills, what did you guys get?" He asked.

Buffy smiled and pulled the dress out of the bag. "Isn't it gorgeous?" She asked.

"It's gonna have Angel drooling all over himself." Willow agreed.

Xander rolled his eyes at the mention of Deadboy. "What about you Wills?" He asked, changing the subject.

Willow smiled and held up the BOO! Ghost bag she was carrying. "Going with an old standby. What have you got there Xander, that bag is huge." Willow asked, peering at the bag that was the size of a hockey bag.

"Yeah, I thought you were going as a soldier." Buffy added. "You decide to go as a tank instead?"

"Har har." Xander replied. "I still am going as a soldier, of sorts. It's a surprise."

----------

Xander knocked an armoured glove on the door. Joyce answered and gave him a warm smile. "Xander, wow what an extravagant costume! Come in."

"Thanks Mrs. Summers." Xander replied, walking inside. He had left the full helmet off so people would recognize him. He walked into the living room and looked at Buffy, who looked absolutely gorgeous in the burgundy dress. "Buffy. Duchess of Buffonia, I completely renounce spandex."

Buffy smiled and gave him appraising look. "Thanks. What is that?"

"Seriously? You haven't seen any commercials or anything?" Xander asked in a disbelieving tone.

Buffy shrugged. "Guess not. Wait till you see Willow, she's dressed as a..." Buffy trailed off, looking up the stairs at the sheet-clad Willow. "Never mind."

----------

Willow struggled to her feet. "What's going on?" She wondered aloud, looking around her. It was total chaos. Tiny demons and monsters were chasing kids or other tiny heroes around. Willow watched as a three-foot creature with a humped back chased a screaming kid in a skeleton costume, laughing in a high-pitched voice and firing some kind of laser pistol. They ran around a corner out of sight, then the creature appeared again. It had dropped it's pistol and was running, screaming as it when. "The Demon! Run! A! Way!" It cried.

Around the same corner stepped Xander, dressed from head to toe in green armour, carrying to small machine guns. He turned his golden visor from side to side, surveying the scene. Then a voice, which was definitely deeper than Xander's said, "What the hell is going on?"

Willow was especially surprised when a feminine voice that seemed to come from the suit as well said, "I have absolutely no idea, but I can tell we aren't in Kansas anymore."

"Xander!" Willow cried. "What's going on?"

"I think you've got the wrong person, miss." The armoured figure replied. "I don't have a name."

"So over dramatic." The female voice said with a hint of annoyance. "This is Master Chief, and I'm Cortana."

"But you, you're just characters from a video game!" Willow replied. "You're not real!" She said, trying to grab Xander's arm. Both Master Chief and Willow jumped when her hand went right through him arm.

"Looks who's talking." Master Chief replied wryly.

"Hmm, interesting." Cortana mused. "This place looks like Earth, but I've analyzed some of the cars, and the designs are over five hundred years old. It's like we've gone back in time."

"Listen to me!" Willow cried. "We've turned into our costumes. My friend Xander dressed as you, and now he is you!"

"And you dressed as?" Cortana asked.

"A ghost." Willow said.

"The ghost of what?" Cortana replied. "Sex, drugs and rock and roll?"

"You know, for a computer program you're pretty obnoxious." Willow replied. "And Buffy, oh god Buffy dressed as a 17th century noblewoman! You have to help!"

"Is there anyone saner I can talk to?" Master Chief asked.

"Actually Chief what's she's saying makes sense." Cortana said. "Well, not from the point of everyone turning into their costumes that's crazy but at the same time, we're here in a seemingly 20th century town that's filled with monsters of all kinds."

"Not to mention grunts." Chief added.

"And umm, something else." Willow said. "When we got to the store, Ethan was talking to someone. He was giving him a suit of armour, that umm, looked a little bigger than the grunts."

"Was it gold?" Cortana asked.

Willow nodded.

"Perfect. An Elite." Chief said.

"And I can bet anything he's organized most of the grunts." Cortana added. "You know, I'm starting to wish I'd stop asking you to carry me everywhere."

"We should get moving." Willow said. "Buffy could be in big trouble."

-----------

Spike looked around and smiled. On one side of the road was a tiny demon harassing young trick or treaters and in the small park on the other side, a tall demon with a split chin and gold armour was roaring in triumph and raising some kind of energy sword in the air. The smaller creatures around him chimed in with the cheer.

"Well this is just, neat." Spike said happily.

**End chap 1**

**So what do you think? Should I continue this story? Please leave a review and let me know! Oh and for those of you waiting for The War to End All Wars, chap 20 will be up Saturday hopefully. BTW the AU was that Halo came out much earlier, just so you know.**


	2. Assault on Rovello Drive

**Thanks to Majin Gojira, Jeff, Ckk, Sepharih, Zeon, JWolf, Demented Mite, Dracowar, Holy Knight and SotF for the reviews, the feedback is appreciated. And yes, I screwed up Master Chief does have a name my bad.**

**Majin Gojira: Yeah I know which I why I said AU, Halo came out earlier.**

**Ckk: Yeah but you have to remember that the grunts and elites are kids in costume, so it would be tough to fight then without killing them.**

**Dracowar: Let's say after Halo but before Halo 2, partially because I wouldn't want to ruin the game for anyone and partially because I haven't finished it yet. He's wearing the Mark VI suit.**

**SotF: Don't spoil it for anyone! No this isn't the Arbiter but he will make an appearance later, along with friends...**

**Anyways that's it so on with the story!**

**Chapter 2**

Master Chief and Willow ran side by side through the town. They turned a corner to see a dark haired Buffy screaming as a pirate approached her, leering menacingly. Master Chief/Xander raised his SMGs and prepared to fire when Willow shouted, "You can't! Remember, he's a pirate now but that's really just a guy in a costume!"

He hesitated for a second, and Cortana took the time to add, "She might be right. Maybe just knock him out." Chief nodded and picked up a rock, then hurled it at Larry the Pirate, hitting hit in the back of the head. Larry made a funny face, then dropped to the ground, out cold.

"Thank you, sir knight!" Buffy cried, running up and embracing Chief/Xander. "Your armour is most peculiar, what country do you hail from?" She asked, examining the green armour.

"We need to get her out of here!" Willow ordered. "Come on, we can take her to her house, Buffy's house, whatever."

"We need to re-think our strategy for dealing with these monsters." Cortana said, earning a strange look from Buffy.

"A woman warrior?" She asked, both puzzled and shocked.

"No she just lives in my head." Chief/Xander replied. "And I agree. I can't just throw a rock at an Elite."

"Let's just get to Buffy's house." Willow said. "Maybe we won't run into him."

----------

Chief/Xander opened the door and escorted Willow and Buffy in, then turned around to take a final look outside before closing it. "Wait!" A voice shouted. A young brunette in a catsuit ran in then slammed the door shut behind her.

"Cordelia!" Willow said. "You're not a cat! You're just under a spell, it looks like..."

"Like what?" Cordelia asked. "Do you see me meowing and drinking milk from a saucer? Have you guys noticed that most people out there have turned into their costumes? Speaking of which, who's the tin can?"

"This is, was, Xander. Now he's Master Chief, you know, from Halo?" Willow explained.

"And me." Cortana added.

"Yes, Cortana is in the suit too." Willow amended. "She's an intelligent computer program. Look, stay here. I'm going to get Giles, maybe he has some idea what's going on. Xan- Chief, try not to shoot anyone. Remember, under the little demons there are kids out there."

"I'll do what I can." Chief/Xander promised. "Who's Giles?"

"He's a friend of ours, hopefully he can help us out." With that Willow turned and ran through the nearest wall.

Chief/Xander quickly turned his guns on the stairs, where a figure was silently coming down them. "Don't move!" He ordered.

"Xander? It's me, Angel." The figure replied.

"He's not Xander right now, he's Master Chief." Cordelia explained. "Willow's a ghost and Buffy's a noblewoman, everyone has turned into their costumes."

"Oh." Angel replied simply, looking down at Buffy, who was cowering on the couch, trying to choke back tears. "This isn't good."

----------

"Giles!" Willow shouted as she emerged from the wall of the library. "Help!"

Giles appeared from behind one of the stacks. "Oh, hello Willow. Dear lord, what are you dressed as?"

"Giles, everyone has turned into their costume! Buffy's a noblewoman and Xander's Master Chief and Cordelia's, wait, Cordelia didn't change." Willow said, pondering her own words. "But she bought her costume at Partytown. Most people went to a new place, Ethan's."

"What was the name of the man running the store?" Giles asked sharply.

"Ethan, Rayne I think." Willow replied. "Why?"

"Get back and help Xander and Buffy." Giles ordered. "I think I know what is going on."

----------

"Uhh, Chief, I think we have a problem." Cortana said. "I'm picking up a couple of Covenant radio transmissions from down the street. Looks like our position's been made."

"Not good." Chief/Xander said. He turned to look at Cordelia and Angel. "Stay with her," he said, gesturing to Buffy. "I'll deal with them." Chief/Xander opened the door and walked into the night.

"Shouldn't we go with the knight with the muskets?" Buffy asked, alarmed. "I'd really prefer to stay with the man with the muskets!"

----------

Chief/Xander walked out onto the street and looked south. Standing in front of an intersection were eight grunts, all doing their best to growl menacingly, and one very tall, very angry looking Elite clad in the gold armour of a fleet commander. He roared loudly then activated his energy sword, nearly cutting in half one of the careless grunts.

"If the Elite wasn't there we might be able to take out the grunts without killing them." Cortana reasoned. "We either need to take him out of the fight or get him away from the others."

"I can't see a way of doing this without eliminating the Elite." Chief/Xander replied. "I guess we'll have to call it acceptable casualties."

Before the conversation could continue, four of the grunts armed with needlers opened fire. Chief/Xander dove behind a car parked on the street as a hail of purple quills trying to track him slammed into the side of the car. In return he grabbed his SMGs and popped up, laying down a field of suppressive fire. The SMGs crackled loudly, perforating the din of the night with a sound dangerous enough that the area around them suddenly fell silent. A veritable wall of lead flew towards the group of Covenant, however due to the distance and the lack of accuracy on both the Chief's hasty aim and the weapons themselves, none of the Covenant members were hit with anything more than grazes. It did, however, drive the grunts to a more covered position.

Meanwhile Spike had decided to make use of the diversion to plan his attack on Buffy. Though he could not enter the house, his makeshift minions certainly could.

----------

Angel quickly found himself surrounded by a group of three foot high demons. He hit and flung them away, trying to be careful to pull his punches a little, but was quickly overwhelmed by the numbers. He used one of the demons to knock another couple away, then got to his feet and showed his game face, hoping to intimidate them a little. The reaction was not quite what he was looking for.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Buffy screamed, fleeing from her seat out the open door.

"Cordelia get her!" Angel shouted, batting away one of the tiny demons. "She gonna get herself killed!"

Cordelia took off after the noblewoman, and before long caught up to her in an alley. "Buffy! It's okay, relax." Cordelia said.

"That man was, he was a vampire!" Buffy exclaimed fearfully.

"Angel's a good vampire, he would never hurt you." Cordelia soothed. "Now let's get back to the house for we run into trouble."

"Too late." Called Spike, stepping from the shadows with his game face on. Cordelia and Buffy spun around to find that they were surrounded by small demons. "This certainly in an interesting night." Spike proclaimed, moving towards the whimpering noblewoman. "The Slayer's been reduced to a simpering princess, the redhead is a ghost, and-"

"And Xander is Master Chief." Cordelia interrupted with mock bravado. "You might want to leave us alone or you'll have to mess with him."

"Last I saw he was hiding behind a car from a horde of aliens." Spike replied offhandedly. "I don't think he'll be bothering us." With that he moved forward and grabbed the now screaming Buffy.

----------

Master Chief crouched behind the quickly deteriorating Pontiac. "You know, I think I've had it with this no killing stuff." He said.

"What are you going to do?" Cortana asked. "You can't be considering killing nine kids."

"No, just one." Chief replied. "That Elite is a fleet commander. Take him out and the rest will scatter." With that, the Chief grabbed his only grenade and hurled it over the car into the mass of Grunts. They quickly scattered, but were knocked away by the blast. Chief used the time to emerge from hiding and charge towards the Elite, quickly bringing his guns to bear and firing. The Elite charged, but before he had taken five steps his shields were gone and he was knocked on his ass. Chief/Xander moved in the finish the job.

----------

"How do I stop it Ethan?" Giles asked again, kicking the chaos mage in the side again.

"Smash the statue." Ethan gasped. Giles quickly looked and saw the statue of Janus, then grabbed it and raised it over his head. "I did more than just have a little fun." Ethan said, stopping Giles. "I opened a small doorway, smash that statue now and it may never close."

Ignoring the man, Giles threw the statue at the ground and watched as it smashed into hundreds of pieces. Little did he know he had just saved one life and in a way, created another.

----------

Spike looked around at his minions, who had suddenly turned back into crying children. Willow, who had stepped into the warehouse not a minute ago, smiled and gestured for Spike to look behind him. Spike turned around to see a very agitated looking Slayer staring back at him. She leveled him with a punch and smiled. "It's good to be me."

----------

Xander stared down at the Elite, or at least what was an Elite not five seconds ago. Now Warren Meers was nervously staring down the barrel of the submachine gun in Xander's armoured hand. He lowered the weapon and looked around. Behind him lay a group of children dressed as grunts, some of them crying for their mommies while others looked angry that they didn't have any candy. Down the street a Pontiac Grand Am had been reduced to little more than a frame and wheels, and there was damaged property everywhere.

Xander started walking back to Buffy's house when he was shocked to hear a voice in his ear. "Everything changed back." Cortana said. "So why am I still here?"

**End chap 2**

**Hope you guys liked this chapter, thanks again for the reviews. And again for those of you waiting for The War to End All Wars, sorry but I got sidetracked writing this, I promise Monday by the very latest, should be up Sunday though. Thanks for reading and please leave a review!**


	3. Ramifications

**Thanks to Zeon, Gregdoreza, Majin Gojira, Aurora, Dracowar, JWolf, Ckk, Sepharih, HolyKnight, Dogbertcarroll, Smeghead, TopQuark, and YoraththeWolf for the reviews, the feedback is greatly appreciated. I think this is the only story I've written so far where I've had more reviews for the second posting that the first, so thanks again to everyone who reviewed!**

**Majin Gojira: No, Xander will most certainly not be turning into an unkillable uber-hero. I will do my best to avoid that.**

**Aurora: Thanks and read on, you'll see how I explained it.**

**Sepharih: I am not going to eliminate Xander but he will certainly be more than he was. Remember, he kept the memories and training of the soldier so he will do the same for MC.**

**HolyKnight: Read on and find out.**

**Davis: Nah I never really considered crossing Mechwarrior because it is too machine oriented. However if you have an idea you should write it, you can probably see an angle I can't.**

**YoraththeWolf: Thank you for the in depth review, I greatly appreciate that you took the time to write such a long one. Read on, your questions will be answered by the chapter.**

**A quick note, I know some of the history behind the MC but I haven't finished the book yet, so if I made any glaring mistakes let me know and I'll do my best to correct them. Well, that's all for now so on with the story!**

**Chapter 3**

"Cortana?" Xander asked. He looked down at his armour, realizing that it felt different, hell, _he_ felt different.

"Chief? Is that you?" Cortana asked, her voice hopeful.

"I'm Xander." He replied, resisting the odd urge to reply 'yes.' "What's going on?"

"Long story short everyone turned into their costumes." Cortana replied. ""Listen, you need to be very careful, this armour can be extremely dangerous."

"I don't understand." Xander replied. "This is just a costume, how can it even support your program?"

Xander began to turn in the direction of Buffy's house but Cortana shouted, "Stop! Look this may have been a costume when you bought it but it isn't anymore." Cortana said. "This is the real deal, MJOLNIR armour, and to be honest I'm surprised you can even stand."

"What's the big deal?" Xander asked, starting to feel panicked.

"Just cool it." Cortana said soothingly. "The suit is almost symbiotic. It acts like an integrated part of your nervous system. However, it also heightens your reaction times and reflexes to a speed that is actually dangerous. Every move oyu make had to be controlled, precise, and above all, slow. If you just move normally you risk actually killing yourself."

Xander took a deep breath and focused, trying to move at the same speed as the tai chi masters he had seen on TV. Even trying to move slowly, Xander found himself walking at a normal clip. He could feel the power of the suit as he moved. "So this is why Master Chief can flip over a Warthog."

"Master Chief is as much machine as man." Cortana replied. "He couldn't do a tenth of what he does without this suit, though to any normal human this suit is a deathtrap. He must have left you a few gifts."

"What do you mean, gifts?" Xander asked, approaching the door.

"Spartans were originally handpicked because they exhibited the best of what the human race had to offer in terms of strength, speed and mental ability at an early age." Cortana explained. "However they underwent a series of injections and operations which increased their bone density, vision, muscle mass and reflexes. Only a Spartan can survive in MJOLNIR armour."

"I see." Xander said, gasping as he opened the door and very nearly ripped it from its' hinges. "I really don't like this suit." He commented.

"The more accustomed you get to it the easier the suit becomes to use." Cortana replied. "Soon you won't use your body at all, it's almost like you're along for the ride."

"I have to get out of this suit." Xander said. "I'm terrified of moving too fast!"

At that moment, Buffy, Angel and Willow walked through the door. "Xander!" Willow called from behind her ghost sheet. "Are you okay?"

"I'm Xander, but I don't know if I'm okay." Xander replied.

"What's going on?" Angel asked.

"It looks like whatever power brought me here left your friend Xander with a few parting gifts." Cortana said. "I would be one of them."

"Cortana?" Willow asked, her mouth wide. "Then that means, **oh**my**god**Xander**that**means**that**the**armour**is**real**you**are**wearing**master**chiefs**armour**and**wow**that**is**so**cool**but**wasn't**he**a**cyborg-"

"Willow!" Xander called. "Calm down. Yes, the armour is real. On a side note I would like to add I have no idea how anyone could fight an army in this thing it's almost impossible to move normally in. So can we make the first priority getting me out of here before I pass out?"

"It's not hard to get out of." Cortana explained. "I'll deactivate the major systems for you, then just reach up and pull the helmet off when I tell you to."

An orangish yellow ring appeared just above Xander's head and moved quickly down his body, then vanished at his feet. "There, the shield is off, you can take then helmet off now, there's a small tab on either side you need to find."

Xander reached up and felt the sides of the helmet, then found a tab on each side just big enough to be pressed by his armoured hands. He pressed in on both simultaneously and heard the hiss of air escaping from the pressurized suit. He pulled up and slid the helmet over his head, then placed it on the table and took several gulps of fresh, unfiltered air. Immediately Xander felt the rest of the suit go slack.

"Now just twist each arm a little at the top, they'll slide off too." The helmet, which contained Cortana instructed. Xander complied and slid the arms off the suit, then slid the armoured vest that made up the torso over his head and dropped it to the floor.

"It's not so easy to get out of the legs." Cortana explained. "Get your friends to give you a hand." Buffy and Angel moved to either side and lifted Xander, who slid his legs out of the bottom half of the suit, which remained standing, albeit slumped, of its' own accord. As soon as they set him down, Xander dropped to his knees. His gym shirt and shorts were soaked with sweat.

"Wow Xander have you been working out?" Buffy asked.

"Huh?" Was Xander's reply. He then looked down and saw that his normally baggy shirt was tight across his chest. He could see the outline of muscles that had definitely not been there before, and his arms were noticeably bigger.

"Wow Xander you look incredible!" Willow said, eyeing Xander up. She stopped smiling however when she saw the look on his face, one of total fear.

"What's happening to me?" Xander asked meekly.

"So the spell made you a little bigger, is that a bad thing?" Buffy asked.

"That's not all it did." Xander said, shaking his head. "It's like I'm back, but I have all this stuff in my head I didn't even know before. I have all this knowledge in my head, memories that aren't mine. I didn't just play Halo I was there. I was in the thick of it. It's like I'm still me but I'm something else too, I'm not even sure what I am anymore, am I even human?" Xander looked himself over again. "I don't even know who I am anymore. It's like I'm Xander, but I'm also Master Chief."

"Xander I felt the same way when I found out I was the Slayer." Buffy said, giving him a reassuring look. "I wondered who I was, what I was. But in the end it's what's inside that counts, so try not to worry, it will be okay."

"Sorry to interrupt but what exactly is going on here?" Cortana asked. "Can someone tell me where, and more importantly, when we are?"

"I've been meaning to ask this for a while now, but why is the helmet talking?" Angel asked.

"It's not the helmet it's Cortana." Willow explained. "She's a sentient computer program, right now she's just inside the helmet. Anyways Cortana, it's 1997. We're in a small town called Sunnydale California."

"Hmm strange I've never heard of that town." Cortana replied. "Can we get me into a computer, where I can access more information?"

Willow paled. "You want to get into the Internet?"

"Did I say something wrong?" Cortana asked.

"Nothing personal Cortana it's just that last year a demon managed to get into the Internet and it tried to kill Willow." Buffy explained.

"A demon, right." Cortana replied wryly. "What like some kind of sentient virus?"

"Cortana things work a little differently here." Xander said. "We don't fight grunts and elites, we fight demons and vampires."

"What is this place?" Cortana asked.

"I don't think it's just the past, I think Cortana is from a different reality or something." Willow said. "After all, Halo is a video game here."

"What?" Cortana asked.

Xander nodded. "And a pretty damned accurate one too, from what I can remember anyway. We should get the library, maybe G-man knows something about this."

----------

Buffy, Willow, Angel and Xander had all made their way to the library after stopping quickly at Xander's house so he could change out of his gym clothes, though his clothes fit him a little tighter than before. They brought the armour along as well, thinking that Giles might want the chance to examine it. They walked through the doors of the library to see Giles drinking a cup of tea.

When he saw the armour and Xander's new muscles, he very nearly sprayed them all with a mouthful of tea. "Good lord Xander, what happened to you?"

"Was hoping you might be able to tell us, G-man." Xander replied. "The spell ended but for some reason I didn't change back all the way."

"Excuse me, but could someone move me to that computer over there?" The helmet Buffy was carrying asked.

"That would be Cortana." Xander explained to Giles. "She stayed here too."

Buffy carried the helmet and set it beside the computer. A yellow beam flew from the helmet to the back of the computer and a moment later an image Cortana appeared on screen. "Wow, this stuff is ancient." Cortana commented. "If I were a megalomaniac, which I'm not by the way, I would have no trouble basically taking over the Internet in about a minute."

"Are you sure we can trust her?" Giles asked.

"I'm programmed to serve the human race." Cortana replied. "Well, specifically UNSC but Xander is the closest thing to that here, so trust me. Even if I wanted to hurt you, the worst I could do is be of no help."

A purple light flared behind the image of Cortana. "Okay, let's see." She commented. "History seems pretty much the same here, with a few small exceptions. Hehe, Red vs. Blue. Chief would get a kick out of that. The occult has a much larger following here than it does in my reality."

"That's because it's more than just myth here." Giles explained.

"There seems to be a connection between this town and something called a Hellmouth. Is that what it sounds like?" Cortana asked.

"Exactly what it sounds like." Giles said. "We're standing on a doorway to Hell, or a hell dimension anyway."

"Some of these demons are pretty tough looking. How do you guys fight them?" Cortana pressed.

"Search for the word Slayer." Buffy supplied.

"Slayer, eh? Let's see here. In every generation there is a chosen one-"

"She alone possesses the strength and skill blah blah blah." Buffy said. "That's me."

"This is just too weird." Cortana said. "Half the programs that were normally the beginnings of interplanetary travel don't exist, even though they should. And at the same time, my entire reality has been compressed down into a video game."

"I'm sorry." Willow said. "It must be weird to be ripped out of your world like that. I don't think any of us even considered how you might feel."

"You'd be surprised how much that happens even in my own reality." Cortana replied wryly. "Don't worry about it, I'll be okay."

"Giles, do you have any idea why Cortana is still here?" Buffy asked.

Giles began cleaning his glasses. "Well, perhaps. It seems that the events earlier tonight were caused by an old… acquaintance of mine." Giles said, trying to control his anger. "In order to stop the spell I had to smash a statue, but he mentioned something about a door being opened, perhaps it was a door to an alternate dimension."

"A dimension where Halo is real?" Xander asked skeptically.

"Actually it's theorized that there are an infinite number of dimensions, and therefore an infinite number of possibilities." Cortana pointed out.

"But why would only you be pulled here?" Xander asked.

"Well, every other costume was based on something from this reality, right?" Willow said. "Maybe in order to work the spell had to pull Cortana and Master Chief from this alternate reality, or at least copy them."

"But still, why didn't she get sent back?" Xander asked. "All the grunts and the elite changed back."

The room fell silent as everyone thought about it. "I have a couple of theories." Cortana said finally. "My first is that since in this reality, Master Chief and I are the focal point, the most iconic and central characters, we are just the first to stay. As time goes on, less important characters or objects will make their way through."

"I certainly hope not." Giles said. "That would be catastrophic."

"What's your other theory?" Willow asked.

"Well, we might not have got sent back because of… me." Cortana said sheepishly. "Think about it. When it was all over, everyone resumed control of their own bodies, including Xander. But I didn't possess anyone; I came into this reality as an independent entity."

"So what?" Buffy said. "When the spell ended, everything should have gone back to normal."

"Perhaps the spell wasn't designed to take any form of life." Giles said.

"Right, which I guess I qualify as." Cortana agreed. "But for me to survive, or at least reamin in this reality, the suit has to remain real, because the costume has no computer systems."

"And for Xander to survive in the suit, he would have to be a Spartan." Willow added. "Of course, it's all just a chain reaction."

"That doesn't mean that my other theory isn't true too." Cortana said.

"I will have to consult my books." Giles said. "This certainly is a peculiar situation, even for us."

"I'm going to head home." Xander said, checking his watch and seeing that it was already after midnight. "Cortana you want to go back in the armour?"

"No I'm good." Cortana said. "I think I'll stay here for now."

"Are you sure?" Willow asked. "What if you get caught or something?"

Cortana laughed. "Caught? Puh-leeze. In this time, all the hackers in the world couldn't track me down. I'll see all of you tomorrow." She said with a smile, then disappeared.

"Yes well, perhaps we should all get some sleep." Giles said. "If the three of you want to drop by tomorrow sometime I'll bring you up to speed."

Willow, Xander and Buffy collected the heavy MJOLNIR armour (with Buffy doing the majority of the lifting) and headed out of the library back to their houses. Meanwhile, at a robotics lab in Silicon Valley, several robots seemed to be constructing something of their own accord.

----------

As Xander was leaving his house for school, a delivery truck pulled up. The driver hopped out holding a small box. "Are you Xander Harris?" He asked.

"Yeah." Xander replied, puzzled as to who would be sending him a package, especially one that was arriving so early.

"Sign here." The guy said, handing Xander a clipboard. Xander signed, then the driver handed him the box and hopped in the truck. Xander opened it and saw that inside were four wristwatches with a flat, blank face.

"Huh." Xander said simply, putting one of them one. He looked it over. There were three small numbered buttons surrounding one much larger button. He pushed the big button, and to his surprise a small hologram of Cortana appeared. "Hey Shorty." she greeted.

"I'm not short!" Xander replied indignantly.

"You are for a Spartan." Cortana replied. "How do you like my present?"

"Are you kidding?" Xander asked, putting the three remaining devices in the knee pocket of his cargo pants and dropping the box in the garbage. "I've wanted a communicator since I first saw Star Trek. This is awesome."

"Glad you like it." Cortana replied with a smile. "I got one for each of you. You can contact each other with the small buttons or call me with the big one."

"How do they work?" Xander asked.

"It complicated, let's just leave it at they work." Cortana replied. "Give them to the others when you see them."

"Okay." Xander nodded.

"Oh, and tonight we should start your training." Cortana said.

"Training?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, you're a Spartan you should know how to use the MJOLNIR armour properly." Cortana said.

"No. Nononono. No way." Xander said. "I'm freaked out enough without having to wear that deathtrap."

"Xander, you're being ridiculous." Cortana said sternly. "It looks like this is a pretty damn dangerous place to live, what happens if your friends need a Spartan? Are you going to let them down?"

Xander was taken aback. Though he hated the claustrophobic feeling of the armour, his hero complex was laying on the guilt. "We'll talk about it later." He promised. "I have to go to class, I'll call you when I go to see Giles."

----------

Xander walked into the library to see that Willow and Buffy were already there.

"Hey Xander." Buffy greeted. "What's with the baggy clothes?"

"Trying to hide the fact that I'm suddenly a little bigger. " Xander replied, looking down at his cargo pants and oversize hoody. He then reached down into one of the pockets of his cargo pants and pulled out the three communicators. "Compliments of Cortana." Xander said, putting them on the table.

"Ooh, shiny." Buffy said, picking one up. "What are they?"

"Communicators." Xander replied. "Here, look." He pressed the button on his and Cortana appeared.

"Hi everyone." She greeted. "I thought it might be a good idea for us all to be able to keep in contact."

"How did you make these?" Willow asked.

"I uh, liberated some robots at a computer chip facility for a few hours." Cortana said.

"You know, we have a word for liberating stuff." Buffy said. "We call it stealing."

"Well technically I didn't steal anything except for a few dollars worth of raw materials." Cortana replied.

"Still, it's wrong." Buffy insisted. "We can't decide that since we're special we're above the law."

"Buffy, it's only a few dollars." Xander said. He turned to Cortana. "Just don't do it again. Buffy is right, we can't act as though we're above the law."

"Okay I see your point." Cortana admitted.

"Giles any new information?" Buffy asked.

"Erm, I'm afraid not." Giles replied. "Though there are several texts containing sections about alternate dimensions, none seem to indicate any type of situation like this."

"I think this is more of a freak accident than anything else." Cortana commented.

"That is most likely the case." Giles replied. "However, there are a couple of passages that mention that dimensional barriers can be weakened through different spells."

"Which means we might very likely be seeing more Halo related things?" Xander asked.

"Yes, though it appears the degradation will not get any worse, so at least we don't have to worry about the dimensions overlapping." Giles stated. "In the meantime I suggest you make the best out of the situation."

"Maybe even start training in the armour." Cortana added.

"Don't push it." Xander replied in a very serious voice, not unlike Master Chief.

"She may be right, Xander." Giles said. "At the very least it would be a good idea for you to take some basic hand to hand training to gauge your new abilities. Perhaps you can show up after school with Buffy and sit in on our training session."

"Do I have to?" Xander whined.

"Relax Xander, we'll go easy on you." Buffy said with a look of amusement. "Maybe we'll even spar a couple rounds."

"It's a date then." Xander said sarcastically. "I can't wait to get beat up by the Slayer."

-----------

Giles watched in amazement as Xander and Buffy moved around the floor sparring. Xander couldn't quite match Buffy's strength, and his fighting was rather sloppy and done mostly on instinct. However, he was nearly as fast and wasn't doing too badly. He had actually managed to land a couple of blows on the Slayer.

"Not too bad." Cortana commented from her vantage point on the table. "Looks like some of the Chief's training is seeping through." She added as she watched Xander roll his shoulder back to avoid a punch and counter with a quick jab to the kidney. Though Buffy blocked the jab, she seemed genuinely surprised by the move, and her second of hesitation allowed Xander to go on the offensive. He moved in throwing several attacks, which pushed Buffy's limits of speed. She managed to block them all though and then dropped down and knocked Xander's feet out from under him with a sweep kick.

Xander fell flat on his back and lay there, catching his breath. Buffy helped him to his feet and gave him an appraising smile. "Not bad at all Xander."

"I still lost." Xander said, removing his foam sparring helmet and wiping the sweat away with the back of his glove.

"Yes but it took Buffy over a minute to finish the fight." Giles added. "That is certainly longer than you would have lasted before now."

"Yeah don't be so hard on yourself Xan." Buffy said.

"I think it would be beneficial for everyone if you kept coming to train with Buffy and I." Giles said.

"Okay." Xander said.

"And Xander, I know you don't want to hear it but you need to train on the MJOLNIR armour." Cortana added. "If an Elite or Hunter suddenly appears we are going to need a Spartan."

Xander's expression grew grim.

"Jeez is it really that bad?" Buffy asked.

"Every move you make has to be so slow. According to Cortana if I do so much as windmill my arms for balance I could break them. I feel so restricted, and nervous."

"That feeling will go away." Cortana assured him. "It just takes time."

"We'll see." Xander said. "We'll try it tomorrow, but I can't make any promises. If it doesn't get any better I'm not doing it anymore."

---------

Xander took a deep breath and lowered the helmet onto the suit. He felt it latch and the suit immediately tightened. Xander fought the urge to panic.

"Okay." Cortana said into his ear. "Just stay calm. Remember when you were fighting Buffy earlier today?"

"Yes." Xander replied, controlling his breathing.

"You were using UNSC combat styles." Cortana said. "That means that the Chief's memories about how to fight and how to use the suit are there, you just have to access them."

"I was just acting on instinct." Xander replied.

"I know." Cortana said. "Giles!" She called through the speakers. Giles emerged from the weapons room carrying a baseball bat. "Giles is going to try and hit you." Cortana explained. "Block it."

Giles swung at Xander. He moved very slowly and purposefully but it was too slow, and the bat smacked the top of his helmet.

"Don't think just react!" Cortana commanded. "Again!" She called.

Giles swung again, and Xander again was too slow. "Come on Shorty!" Cortana taunted. "My programmer could beat you down!"

Xander gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the obnoxious AI. Giles swung again and this time Xander managed to get his arm up fast enough to deflect the blow somewhat without doing any damage to himself.

"Not good enough!" Cortana shouted in his ear. "What if that was an elite? He would have beat you to a pulp by now. START MOVING!"

"I'm doing my best!" Xander yelled back. "Get of my case!" This time, when Giles swung at him, Xander grabbed the bat in midair and wrenched it out of the Watcher's hands, then snapped it over his knee. "There!" He shouted. "Are you freaking happy now?!" He then stopped and realized that the suit didn't feel quite as on edge in the suit.

"Yes." Cortana replied calmly. "Sorry, I was just trying to get your adrenaline level up, it makes it easier not to think."

"Well it's annoying!" Xander said angrily. "Now I'm in a bad mood."

"Yeah but you're moving a lot better." Cortana replied. "Thanks for the help Giles."

Giles was staring back at Xander in surprise.

"What?" Xander asked.

"That was an aluminum bat." Giles said.

"Oh." Xander said, looking at the two metal halves. "Sorry."

"Maybe we should go back to your house, Xander." Cortana said. "Jog there in the suit, try and get more comfortable with it.

"Make sure to stay off the main streets." Giles added. "I would prefer it if we kept this to ourselves."

"No problem G-man." Xander said, walking towards the door of the library. "See you tomorrow." He walked out of the deserted halls and out into the night air.

"How's the suit feeling?" Cortana asked.

"Better." Xander replied. "It feels a little more natural. Still weird though."

"I'd have thought you'd be used to weird by now, living in a town like this." Cortana commented.

"True." Xander said. "But it's different when suddenly it's not what's around you that's weird, but your own body. I'm gonna try breaking into a run, by the way." Xander stepped up the pace until he was moving at what felt like a natural running speed. If there had been any cars around he would have noticed that he was moving almost as fast as they were.

"I think I know what you mean." Cortana replied.

The two of them jogged in silence until they got to Xander's street, where he removed the armour before going inside. Xander crept to his room, then stashed the armour in his closet and transferred Cortana back to his communicator.

"Xander, I gotta admit I'm a little freaked out." Cortana said. "This world is just so different from mine."

"I know." Xander replied. "I'm freaked out too. I'll make you a deal, you help me get through it and I'll do the same for you."

Cortana chuckled. "Okay Shorty. Goodnight."

"Same to you." Xander said, dropping into bed and turning out the lights.

**End chap 3**

**Hope you liked the chapter, it was the longest one I have ever written. If you guys want I'll try to keep this length up or go even longer if I can. Thanks for reading and please leave a review!**


	4. And From the Sky Fell

**Thanks to: RickW22, HolyKnight, YoraththeWolf, Ckk, Direwraith, Xon, Quatoria23, Demented Mite, Davelister, Tammin, Blacksands, Da5id, Xman, Bolo, Inva, HolyKnight5, and Dogbertcarroll. Even though not all your reviews were posted by because of their update problem, I received them all so thanks.**

**To everyone interested, I have received suggestions form a couple of people about crossing this with SG-1 as well. Send me a review and tell me whether I should do it in this story or hold off for a sequel.**

**HolyKnight: We may or may not see some of the stuff you suggested, I haven't decided yet. You'll just have to wait and see.**

**YoraththeWolf: You are right, Warren was the Elite. Thanks again for the long review.**

**Direwraithe: Read on and find out.**

**Xon: John, Spartan 117 actually. I just finished reading the books.**

**Davelister: The Arbiter will eventually show up, that's all I will say.**

**HolyKnight5: Well, not quite. All humans have a neural interface and Spartans are no exception, but I think they actually look at a HUD on the faceplate of the helmet.**

**Some quick information. Here are the Covenant species names because I have used a couple in this chapter.**

**Unggoy: Grunt  
****Kig-yar: Jackal  
****Lekgolo: Hunter  
****Sangheili: Elite  
****Jiralhanae: Brute  
****Yan'me: Bugger**

**Anyways I think that's all so on with the story!**

**Chapter 4**

Xander, Buffy and Giles sat in the library, trying to work out the logistics of patrol routines. Xander sighed and leaned back in his chair as Buffy continued to argue.

"If Xander wants to patrol every night he should wear the armour." Buffy insisted.

"Buffy I used to patrol with you all the time before I became a Spartan." Xander said. "Why are you suddenly all freaked out about my safety?"

Buffy bit her lip. "Xander, when you used to come patrolling with me you had the good sense to stay back. Now you might get yourself into a situation where you bite off more than you can chew, and then I won't be able to help you. At least if you wear the armour you won't get bitten."

Xander's temper flared. "Buffy, I'm not a little kid that you have to protect. I've survived this long without any special abilities, you think the first thing I'm going to do now that I have some is go out and get killed?"

"But-"

"Xander, perhaps it would be better to air on the air on the side of caution, at least for now." Giles said. "For now wear the armour and try to stay away from any public areas."

"Giles I can take care of a couple of vampires without it." Xander argued. "I've been training with Buffy for over a week now, I can handle myself almost as well as she can."

"Xander, to be honest I've been holding back a little." Buffy said gently. "You're good, and you're getting better, but you're not as good as me, at least not without the armour."

Xander slumped. "Fine, I'll wear it for patrol at least for now. But Cortana warned be that I can only turn the suit on and off so many times before I need a zapper."

"A zapper?" Buffy asked quizzically.

"It recharges the shields." Xander explained.

"Oh don't worry about that." Said a voice from the computer on the library table. Cortana smirked. "I'm working on it."

----------

Xander twirled the stake in with surprising agility in his armoured hand. He leaned against a tree while Buffy lounged on a tombstone, waiting for a new vampire to rise. It was Xander's first outing with Buffy after his transformation, and he was filled with a surprising confidence that he supposed came from the Master Chief side of him. It wasn't so much that he was no longer afraid, more that the fear took a back seat to completing his objective now.

Buffy looked towards the grave as a hand emerged from the dirt. "You want this one?" She asked.

Xander shrugged inside the armour, translating into a barely noticeable movement to anyone watching. "Sure." He replied nonchalantly. Xander waited for the vampire to completely emerge and dust himself off before stepping out of the shadow of the tree.

The vampire watched him with an expression not so much of fear, but of fascination. Wearing the metallic green armour Xander looked very big, and with the helmet on no part of his face was visible. Despite the combined weight of Xander and the MJOLNIR armour coming to a little under 900 pounds, Xander moved with a fluidity that was almost inhuman. Xander let the vampire make the first move, a haymaker punch that he easily blocked. Then instead of letting the vamps arm go, he grabbed it and jammed his other forearm in the vampires elbow, shattering it.

The vampire yelped in pain, and Xander took the opportunity to step in and smash the vampire's knee with a downward kick. Then he quickly unclipped his stake from his belt and stabbed the vampire before it hit the ground. He turned and dusted his hands while he re-clipped the stake, which he had attached a small clip to, onto his belt. "Told you I didn't need the armour." Xander said matter of factly.

Buffy was more surprised by the brutality of his attack than anything else. Had the vampire been human instead, the only two attacks Xander threw would have left him crippled for life. However before she could respond a large, snarling demon with four huge fangs like a sabre-toothed tiger and a grotesque, green slimy body came around the side of a mausoleum.

Xander stared at the hideous creature. "You know what?" He commented, "Never mind. I'm glad I wore the armour."

Buffy stared at the approaching demon with an expression of disgust. "Eww, I didn't even wear gloves." She said, looking at the skin that was completely covered in a layer of slime. "Can you take care of this?" She asked.

"Oh sure, pass your job off to me just cuz I'm wearing an airtight suit." Xander said, moving to engage the demon. "Thanks a lot." Xander moved in and threw a punch that acted like a clothesline, knocking the demon to the ground.

However, almost as fast he was back on his feet and lashed out with a talon-like hand, striking Xander in the midsection. Xander was surprised to see that the blow had dropped his shield strength by half. However, Xander moved quickly, throwing a lightning fast punch to the creature's neck designed to choke it. The creature staggered back and roared with pain, but moved forward again letting Xander know that the attack had failed in its' primary purpose. Xander stepped in and threw another punch that impacted the demon in the jaw. Its head snapped back, sending a small spray of slime out. While the demon was stunned Xander unsheathed the hunting knife he had brought along as well and twirled it once, then jammed it between the creatures eyes right to where he hoped its' brain was. The demon immediately stopped moving then dropped to the ground.

"Wow." Buffy appraised. "Nice job."

"Thanks." Xander said, looking at the slime that now coated his shields. "Yuck. Let's go home so I can clean up." Xander grabbed the knife from the demon's head, the re-sheathed it and dragged the demon's body to the now empty grave of the fledgling vampire. He pushed it through the hole left by the vamp and turned to head back to Buffy.

"Xan come with me all the time now." She said. "I hate having to clean up some of the demons, you have no idea how many are slimy like that." Buffy gave Xander a winning smile.

"Oh I see how it is." Xander grumbled jokingly. "Well I'll clean now, on the condition that you clean up if my enemies show up."

"Sounds fair." Buffy said, causing Xander to laugh. "What?" She asked.

"Covenant bad guys splatter a lot more than demons." Xander said, walking away.

"Ahh!" Buffy shouted. "No deal! Xander! Wait up!"

----------

"Cortana, why am I walking around in an industrial district?" Xander asked. "Someone could see me."

"Xander it's 11 at night." Cortana replied. "There is no one here, now just keep going, it's right around the next corner."

"What is?" Xander asked.

"A surprise, okay?" Cortana said. "Just keep your pants on, man you're impatient."

The two rounded the corner and all Xander could see was an abandoned looking warehouse. "Okay." He said, "Where to?"

"Go inside." Cortana said. "I have to leave for a minute, I'll be right back."

"Should I wait for you?" Xander asked.

"No I'll be back in just a second." Cortana replied. Xander felt the cool sensation of Cortana against the back of his brain vanish as she left the armour. Xander still wasn't sure how, maybe she had linked the communicators to the suit. He moved forward and opened the door, stepping into the darkened room. Immediately the lights came on, and Xander saw that what he had assumed was an abandoned warehouse looked a lot more like a robotics lab. There were robotic arms and welders and, much to Xander's surprise, a zapper in the middle of the room. What was even more surprising however, was a life-size hologram of Cortana lounging in a chair near the zapper.

"So," she asked smirking, "What do you think?"

"This is amazing!" Xander exclaimed as he took more of the room in. In one corner of the room there was a maintenance bay, another seemed to be a training area, and in one corner there appeared to be a weapons locker. "How can you possibly afford this?" Xander asked.

"Well technically, you did." Cortana replied, standing up and stretching her translucent, purple frame. "See, I kinda borrowed some money from your bank account."

"Last time I checked the balance of that account was not seven figures." Xander said suspiciously.

"More like eight, but either way very true." Cortana said. "Fortunately for us, there's this little thing called the stock market…"

"You made more enough money to afford all this playing the stocks?" Xander asked. "In a week?"

"Five days Shorty, you can't trade over the weekend." Cortana replied smugly.

"Isn't this, you know, illegal or stealing in some way?" Xander queried. "Like counting cards or something?"

"No there was nothing illegal about what I did." Cortana replied. "All kinds of people using trading programs to help them make money, I just work a lot faster than any of them."

Xander shrugged. "Okay then." He took of his helmet and set it down on a table beside him. "So how did you build this place? Aren't you, you know, non corporeal?"

Cortana slinked over to him with a sly look on her face, then reached up and to Xander's shock, touched his face lightly, then gave him a light smack on the cheek.

"Whoa!" Xander exclaimed. "How did you do that?"

"Solid holograph technology, courtesy of the computer systems on Halo." Cortana said. "The Forerunners really knew their stuff. Anyways, I had some of these robots build and set up the holographic emitters, then I did some of the set up and the robots did some of the set up. Let me give you the grand tour." She took Xander's hand and let him across the room to the maintenance area, which included the zapper. "Here's where we can take care of your armour. I've got a couple of spare parts already built, plus the zapper, some welding robots, and even a flash-cloning machine."

Xander recognized the term immediately. Flash-cloning machines were used to make fast clones of organs that could be implanted in battlefield scenarios. "Let's hope we never need that." Xander said gravely.

Cortana nodded. "Hear hear. I also have a small vat of hydrostatic gel in case your suit needs to vent some. And if you follow me over here we have a small weapons area."

Xander examined the barren area of the warehouse. The only visible objects were five small doors on the wall with buttons beside them. Xander moved to one of the buttons and pressed it, and the hatch on the wall beside it popped open. A tray emerged and on it was a battle rifle and a stockpile of ammunition. Xander pressed the button again and it slid away, and he moved on to the next one. This one contained two SMGs. The next held a shotgun, then a pair of magnums, and sitting on the last tray was a Jackhammer rocket launcher.

"You might want to save that one for special occasions." Cortana commented. "Of course since I had to build these with materials available here, they are a little heavier than the ones you might find in my time and pack a little less punch, but they should still work just fine. I set up a little shooting range if you want to try them out."

"Maybe a little later." Xander said, looking at one corner of the warehouse that contained a smaller building. "What's in there?" Xander asked. "Office?"

"Nope, your new room." Cortana replied. "After observing your home for a week, I decided it was time for you to leave. In fact, why haven't you before now?"

Xander winced at the question, and the memories it brought up. "Can we just move on?" He asked.

"Fine, be that way." Cortana replied. She opened the door to the room and Xander stepped through and gasped. Against one wall was a big screen TV, against another was a computer with a bar fridge beside it, and across the room was a very comfortable looking bed.

"Cortana, you didn't have to do this for me." Xander said appreciatively.

"Hey, it was no big deal." Cortana said. "Consider it my way of paying you back the $50 I borrowed from you to pay for all this. Besides, your dad was a jerk. And if he pushed you too far, you might have lost it and with your new strength done something you might regret later."

"Still, this is awesome." Xander persisted.

"Now, let's get you out of the armour and get it cleaned and maintained." Cortana ordered. "We need to keep it, and you in perfect shape, just in case."

---------

Over the next couple of weeks things seemed to cool down over the Hellmouth. Willow started dating a guy named Oz, who Xander immediately decided he liked. Xander continued to train with Buffy, but they decided to split their patrols, with Angel working alongside Buffy and Xander working with Cortana. Xander found a strange satisfaction in working alone, or at least without another physical teammate. It was how the Chief worked, either alone or with other Spartans, and it was how Xander seemed to be the most comfortable working as well. Not to mention that he didn't particularly like Angel.

Tonight, however, Xander and Buffy were patrolling together. It had been a slow week and both Buffy and Xander were bored and decided since there was a heavy fog it would be better to stick together. In fact, they were about to call it quits when a large red dot appeared on Xander's motion tracker. Xander peered through the fog and made out a large shape, perhaps eleven or twelve feet tall. There seemed to be spikes coming off its' back, and something about that put Xander on edge.

"Heads up, we've got a contact." Xander said. "Demon by the looks of it."

Buffy drew her short sword and Xander reached for his knife, then stopped. Something about this shape looked too familiar. "Cortana, is that what I think it is?" He asked.

"Afraid so, Xander." Cortana replied.

"Buffy, stay back." Xander said. "That isn't a demon, it's a Hunter."

Buffy, who had been briefed on Covenant baddies, stiffened. "The big one that's really strong and really hard to kill?"

"You got it." Xander said, drawing his pistols. "I'll take care of it, just stand back. Even a stray blast from that fuel rod cannon could cook you." Buffy nodded and back off to a further position. "If he gets past me, go for the exposed skin on his back." Xander ordered. "That's his weak spot."

Xander moved slowly and quietly toward the Hunter, who was looking around in a confused manner. Behind him was a trail of broken tombstones and large footprints. "He must have just gotten here." Cortana commented.

"Let's send him back." Xander replied, gripping the two pistols tightly. He moved out when the gigantic alien faced away, but made a little too much noise and the Hunter whirled around to face him, it's fuel rod cannon already charging.

Xander dove out of the way as a stream of green irradiated plasma blasted apart the ground he had occupied just a second before. Xander rolled up and brought both his pistols to bear, quickly squeezing off a couple of round that bounced harmlessly off the Hunter's massively thick shield. The Hunter, now ready and lowered to its' combat posture, charged at Xander clumsily. Xander waited until the Hunter was right in front of him, then coiled his legs and jumped, three meters up and over the Hunter. He landed on the ground and was about to fire when the Hunter flung his arm around behind him and swatted Xander, reducing his shields to almost nothing and sending him flying.

Xander landed on a tombstone, knocking it over. "You know, that's bad luck." Cortana commented.

Xander stood up quickly. "That's a new trick." He said, then turned and ran back towards the Hunter, getting too close for the Hunter to fire its' cannon. Once again, the Hunter swung at Xander and Xander dodged again, only this time instead of going over the alien, he sidestepped. Xander leveled the pistols and opened fire, emptying both clips into the Hunter's exposed side. The Hunter gave a roar of pain, then collapsed to the ground.

"Good job." Cortana said. "But you know, Hunters always work in pairs. I wonder if…"

"Xander!" Buffy shouted. "Look out!"

Xander turned in time to see the huge green blast right before it impacted him. Xander's shield immediately dropped to zero and the heat inside the suit rose dramatically. The suit automatically vented some of the steaming hydrostatic gel to try and compensate for the temperature change, but Xander still felt the heat begin to blister his forearms slightly. Xander shot forwards, moving as fast as he dared in the suit. He rapidly closed the distance between himself and the second Hunter before it could fire another shot.

"Xander, your shields haven't recharged yet." Cortana warned. "If he hits you you're roadkill."

Xander ignored the AI. He ran straight at the Hunter and leveled both his guns. He knew he had only a couple of bullets left per gun, and he had to make them count. As the Hunter reared to his full height and prepared to crush Xander, he aimed and fired, aiming not for the midsection but for the exposed skin of the neck. The magnums barked out twin flames, and Xander emptied the remainder of both clips into the Covenant behemoth. This Hunter didn't roar, it instead splattered orange luminescent blood across Xander's unshielded armour, then dropped to the ground.

"Oh gross!" Buffy said loudly.

Xander looked down at the huge corpse. "Damn, almost a month without any Covenant problems and now this!"

"Well our luck had to run out some time or another." Cortana said. "We should be thankful it was only two Hunters."

"Yeah but what if they had gotten loose in the town before we found them?" Xander pointed out. "We need to set up some kind of alert system in case this happens again. I can't imagine how much damage a few Elites could do to Sunnydale."

"Maybe Giles or Willow can help us set up some kind of magical alarm system." Buffy added.

"We should definitely talk to them about it." Xander said. He looked down at his stained armour. "Let's get rid of the Hunters then call it a night, I want to wash this stuff off before it starts to smell."

----------

**Covenant Holy City High Charity**

The Prophet Truth stared down at the bowing Jiralhanae before him. "You say you witnessed the disappearance of the Lekgolo pair, yes?" He asked.

"I did, your majesty." The Jiralhanae guard replied. "The Lekgolo pair were manning their station, when a vortex appeared to envelop them."

"A vortex?" Asked the Prophet of Regret. "Can you elaborate? Is this the work of infidels? Perhaps a new human weapon?"

"I do not know, your majesty." The guard replied. "It looks similar to a slipstream vortex, only it was a deep green. I do not believe it to be the work of the humans, nor the work of heretics. It was something else, perhaps something spiritual."

"Watch your tongue, Jiralhanae." Truth stated. "You are walking a fine line between truth and heresy." He leaned back in his chair. "Have the whole city searched. If the Lekgolo still remain here, we will find them. In the mean time, we have a more important matter to deal with."

The Jiralhanae left and Truth looked at Regret. "There is more here than it appears. Lekgolo pairs are too large to simply disappear."

"I agree." Regret replied. "We should divert some resources to exploring the matter. In the mean time I must join with my fleet, and you should tend to the trial of the fool commander at Halo. We must make an example for the public."

"It will be done." Truth replied gravely.

----------

Xander walked into the library the next day only to be met with concerned gazes from Giles and Willow.

"Xander!" Willow shouted, running from her seat and grabbing him. "Buffy told us all about what happened. Are you okay?"

Xander smiled. "No big deal Wills, just a little singed." He pulled back the sleeve on his long sleeve shirt to show that the skin underneath was red as though it had been sunburned. "I'll be fine."

"It was too much perhaps to hope that this would never happen." Giles said. "I am glad however, that you were in the area when those creatures appeared. From what Buffy and Cortana have told us they could have done quite a lot of damage."

"Yeah, did she ask you about setting up some kind of alarm system?" Xander asked. "Hopefully we'll have a while to work on this but we need to have something in place when this happens again."

"She did, and I have been researching the subject." Giles replied. "I believe we should be able to get something in place soon. In the mean time, we have another problem. It seems Spike has been rallying a gang in the past few weeks, and from what Buffy has discerned he is planning to go after her."

"Doesn't make a lot of sense." Xander said. "Spike doesn't seem like the type to send people after Buffy, I figured he'd want to do it himself."

Giles considered this. "Perhaps the thrashing Buffy gave him on Halloween has taught him a lesson?"

Xander snorted. "Yeah, that's it. Spike learned something."

"Maybe it's a distraction." Willow said. "Trying to keep her busy?"

"Could be." Xander said. "I wouldn't be too worried about it though. He still doesn't know that I'm a Spartan, so we have an ace in the hole. Whatever he's planning, we'll get him."

----------

Cortana was bored. She got bored pretty easily in fact. She was watching an episode of Red vs. Blue when something in a nearby data stream caught her eye. Someone was trying to hack into government security. Normally she wouldn't have cared at all, pathetic human hackers tried that kind of thing every day, and the reasonably respectably security (for it's time) government security did a good job of fending them off. However, whoever was doing this was using decoding sequences that were far ahead of their time. Far ahead, and in fact alien. Cortana immediately realized that the code being used was Covenant in origin, although mixed in with a healthy dose of human hacking techniques.

"What the hell is going on here?" Cortana asked of herself. She watched as the hacker broke through the myriad of firewalls and proceeded to download secret documents relating to plasma control and regulation. He also tried to relocate government funds into an account somewhere. "Oh, I don't think so." Cortana mused. Disguising herself as a government security program, she terminated the hacker's connection easily and stopped the transfer of funds. Cortana tried to search the location of the hacker, but his connection to the internet shut down before she found any useful information. "Huh." She said. "This is just to strange. Why would anyone with Covenant information need human technology relating to plasma?" Cortana decided she should probably tell this to Xander, then went back to watching cartoons.

----------

Warren cursed. The government had found him somehow before he got the money he needed, but at least he had the last of the information he needed to start building plasma weapons. 'In good time.' He though to himself. 'In good time.'

**End chap 4 **

**Hope you guys liked the chapter! Thanks again for reading and please leave a review!**


	5. A Fool and his Money are Soon Parted

**Thanks to: Davelister, Darklight, YoraththeWolf, Dogbertcarroll, Anime-Ronin, Zeon, Genesis, JA Baker, Eternally Lost Zeppo, and Davis, I appreciate the reviews**

**Davelister: I have no doubt we will eventually see Sgt. Johnson at the least, but I think I am going to leave Foehammer out as I am taking up the story after the events of First Strike, which means the time difference would be too big.**

**YoraththeWolf: Read on.**

**JA Baker: Thanks for the review, and I'm looking forward o the next chapter in your story as well.**

**I have decided to at the very least hold off for a while on the SG-1 crossover, as I already have lots of plans that don't require them. Sorry it took a while to get this chapter out, but I think you'll enjoy it, so maybe it was worth the wait.**

**On a side note: Whoo! Go Team Canada! Way to kick the crap out of those Russians! About time we got a gold! (Worold Junior Hockey)**

**Anyways, that all so on with the story!**

**Chapter 5**

Career week had been particularly... interesting. Xander had been constantly patrolling, taking out demons and vampires at a ferocious pace. Meanwhile Buffy had fought off a couple of assassins, and saved Angel from another Slayer, Kendra. Giles and Cortana agreed that it would probably be for the best to keep Kendra in the dark about Xander, and as a result Xander had not met her, instead staying out of the way while letting Buffy and Kendra do their jobs. Now, with the main danger gone and the assassins dispatched, Xander was looking forward to a nice, quite weekend. The _USS Patrick Henry_, a Nimitz class aircraft carrier, was making a stop in port for a few days, and Giles had assured Xander that this would make for a relatively quiet weekend. Vampires knew that dead sailors brought more questions, and more scrutiny to their little haven, so they stayed quiet while the Navy was in town. Xander was looking forward to relaxing, and maybe even getting a full 8 hours of sleep.

Cortana was getting frustrated. The mysterious Covenant style hacker had attempted several times to reappropriate funds from various areas, and though Cortana was able to stop him, the connection was always terminated before she could get a solid fix on his position. She had tracked it to somewhere in California, but could do no better than that for the time being. She had, however determined that he was looking for the technologies necessary to construct a rudimentary plasma weapon, something that added more confusion to the situation. First off, why would a Covenant agent of some kind be operating in Sunnydale, and secondly what possible use could they have for 20th century human plasma technology. Granted, it was further along in this reality, in fact it was as good if not better than the 25th century humans had in her reality, but still completely obsolete compared to the Covenant. Little did she know, she was about to get her answer.

----------

Though Warren's attempts to obtain more funds through the internet had been thrwarted by a mysterious force, he was unconcerned. He had all the parts he needed to complete his prototype. And with the arrival of an aircraft carrier in port, well, he would soon have all the funds he needed. Warren activated the power module then closed the access hatch. His creation lurched forward, then stood up smoothly and appeared to stretch a little in a very lifelike way. It looked down at Warren. "How may I best serve the glory of the Covenant?" It asked in a booming voice.

Warren just grinned.

----------

The next day Xander was awoken by the hologram of Cortana, shaking him violently. "Wake up already!" She said loudly, giving him one last shove. "We have a big problem."

"What's going on?" Xander asked while yawning. "More Covenant appear?"

"Yes and no." Cortana replied, tossing him a shirt. "None of the wards that Giles and Willow put in place have been breached, but the USS Patrick Henry was robbed last night."

Xander stood straight up. "What?! Someone robbed an aircraft carrier? What did they steal, a plane?"

"No, money." Cortana replied. "Most aircraft carriers have several million dollars in small bills onboard. In the case of the Patrick Henry, a little over six million dollars."

"Okay, but I don't see why this is our problem." Xander replied. "Can't we leave this to the navy?"

"Well normally yes." Cortana replied. "However, since in this case eight sailors were killed with what appears to be a plasma weapon of some kind, then no I think we should get involved."

"Oh. Crap." Xander said as the realization sunk in.

----------

The Scoobies looked at the holographic images Cortana had extrapolated from pictures of one of the dead sailors with unmasked disgust. "Look at the pattern of burning across the chest, almost as though the plasma had struck him and splashed across his chest, there is even some on his arm." Cortana commented calmly. "Interesting."

"What does that tell us?" Buffy asked, grimacing at the sight of the charred flesh.

"It tells us that while advanced, this plasma weapon is not quite up to the standards of normal Covenant technology." Cortana explained. "While the plasma splashing over the flesh would cause great pain, it means that the weapon lacks the power to put down a target with just one shot. The plasma rifle, and to a lesser extent the plasma pistol, are designed to deliver a concentrated burst of plasma that burns deep into a target, causing great internal damage and killing faster."

"So that's good right?" Willow said. "That means that the Covenant aren't here, though I guess we would already know that because of the wards that Giles and I put up but they've never been tested so-"

"Well you could look at is as good or bad." Cortana said, cutting off Willow in mid babble. "One the one hand, no there aren't Covenant forces running through Sunnydale unchecked, on the other hand..."

"It means that someone has plasma technology and isn't afraid to use it to get what they want." Xander finished.

"There's more." Cortana added. "For the past couple of weeks I've been tracking a hacker who's been trying to steal money over the Internet."

"So?" Buffy asked. "Don't people do that like, everyday?"

"Yes, but normal people don't use Covenant code algorythms." Cortana replied. "I've stopped him every time, but before I found out what he was doing, he stole all the information he could on plasma technology."

"But if the Covenant are as advanced as you say, what would anyone with knowledge of them need with human plasma technology?" Giles asked. "It seems as though they would be taking quite a step backward."

"True, but at the same time plasma technology has come along a lot faster than it did in my reality." Cortana replied. "The plasma cutter is a recent invention in my reality, as where it is a common tool today. With some rudimentary knowledge of Covenant technology and the research from this reality, it would be possible to make a fairly effective plasma weapon."

"So where is this hacker?" Xander demanded.

"I don't know." Cortana confessed. "He's enabled a kill switch that cuts his connection every time I mess with something he's doing. I've been able to track him to California, and if this is any indication he's probably in Sunnydale, but I haven't the slightest clue where."

"So when he figured out that he couldn't get money over the Internet, he waited until the Patrick Henry stopped here, then robbed it where he knew you couldn't interfere." Xander reasoned. "Now we have a homocidal maniac on the loose with six million dollars, and plasma technology. This is not good."

"With that money, I have estimated that he could make at least one thousand units." Cortana said. "Enough to equip a small army."

"This doesn't make any sense." Oz said. "What good is weapons for an army without an army?"

"I agree." Xander said. "We're missing something, I just wish I knew what it was."

"Wish I could stay to help, but I have to go." Buffy said. "My mom wants me to meet her new boyfriend, Ted." She made a face at his name. "I can't believe my mom is dating someone, it's something I so do not want to visualize."

"See you later Buffy." Xander said, distracted by the holograms. "What could I possibly be missing?"

----------

Warren looked at the millions of dollars in front of him greedily. This money represented all he had, and was still, working for. He looked up at his creation. "You have done well, 01." He said, nodding his thanks. "Soon ranks of your brothers with rise and together you will take this town and this filthy planet, razing it for the glory of the Covenant."

"I live to serve." Was the machine's simple response. "How may I serve the Covenant best in the mean time?"

"For now we will wait." Warren replied. "The area is already under close scrunity from the Navy, no need to draw more attention to ourselves until we are ready. However, there are some parts that I require. I will need you to acquire them, but do it discreetly. Do not kill anyone unless you absolutely have to. Do you understand?"

"Understood." Warren's soldier replied. "What do you need to acquire?"

----------

Buffy rushed into the library, on the verge of tears. "Buffy, what's wrong?" Asked Giles, looking up from the book he was researching.

"I... I..." Buffy said, her lip trembling. "Ted hit me, and I was really mad and sorta hit him back and he, he fell. He fell down the stairs."

"Is he okay?" Xander asked.

"He's dead." Buffy answered quietly. "I killed him."

----------

Xander had taken over patrolling duties for the night while Giles and Willow tried to console the distraught Slayer. He was walking through the industrial area of Sunnydale when he caught a blip of movement of his HUD. It was large, slightly larger than a human and moving quite quickly. He turned a corner and was shocked to see an Elite carrying a clump of mechanical devices that could be batteries of some kind, actuators, circuit boards and other such things. The Elite placed the pile of stuff in a wheelbarrow, then stiffened as it saw Xander standing there observing him. Xander swung his battle rifle off his shoulder and took aim, firing a quick three round burst that caught the Elite in the chest. To his surprise, the bullets bounced with a succession of sparks, rather than hitting shields.

"Cortana?" Xander asked. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." Cortana said. "I have never encountered an Elite without shields before. Maybe his shield generator malfunctioned. Xander and Cortana cut their debate short as the Elite removed a crudely constructed plasma weapon from the wheelbarrow. It was larger than a normal plasma rifle, and lacked casing. Tubes and wires were visible leading to the muzzle. The Elite fired a shot that struck Xander in the leg, exploding over his shields in a blue blast. The damage to his shields was minimal and Xander returned fire, unleashing four bursts of fire on the enemy. The bullets all sparked as they bounced off, leaving dents in the armour of the Elite but no other damage.

"What the hell! I thought this thing cut through Elites like a hot knife through butter!" Xander hissed.

"Well there's only so much I can do!" Cortana shot back. "It's not my fault you people are still using cordite to fire bullets! Besides, Covenant armour isn't supposed to be that tough."

Xander could not reply though, as he was shocked by what he saw. The Elite had put the weapon down and was running, fleeing the scene with his stolen mechanical swag. He took off after him, but the Elite was as fast and had a head start. Xander soon lost in a maze of factories and transformers. "Okay, what the hell is going on?" Xander asked rhetorically. "An Elite running away? That doesn't happen. Grunts? Sure. Jackals? It's possible, but an Elite?"

"I know, it just doesn't happen." Cortana said. "And those bullets should have put him down, especially without any shields. Elite armour generates a shield, and other than that is strictly a denotation of rank. And what would an Elite want with a bunch of human electronics?"

"Not to mention that gun. It looked like it was put together in someone's basement." Xander commented, turning around and heading back to his patrol route. "Let's finish our patrol, then we'll go talk to Giles, see if the wards were breached."

---------

Warren looked at the parts that his lieutenant had collected. "Hmm, most of this will be useful. These circuit boards are garbage though, they've all been broken. What happened?"

"I apologize." The Elite replied. "I was forced to make a hasty escape, and in my rush they must have been damaged."

Warren examined the Elite closer, noting the small dents that covered his chest plate. "Security guards caught you?"

"No, I was intercepted by a warrior of some kind." The Elite replied. "His armour appeared to be protected by a shield of some sort."

Warren narrowed his eyes, then turned around and sorted through a pile of books on his desk, retrieving _The Fall of Reach_. "Was this him?" He asked, pointing to the picture of a Spartan of the front.

"His armour differed slightly from this." The Elite replied. "Perhaps a newer version."

Warren cursed. "I should have known my luck wasn't that good. It just has to be a Spartan, too." He spun around and examined the armour again, noting the areas where the shell had cracked and the Kevlar skin was visible underneath. "Still, if he couldn't even destroy you it may not be as much of a problem as I would expect." Warren considered. "Go recharge, I will need you at full capacity soon."

The Elite bowed. "I live to serve." He said.

----------

Xander had arrived at the library just in time to be dragged out of it by Willow, who declared that they were going to Ted's apartment. Apparently Giles had eaten a cookie made by Ted, and his drastic mood change had caused Willow to investigate. Apparently they were laced with chemicals. Upon arrival, they found some shocking things, not the least of which were the four wives in the closet. While this was horrifying, what was more interesting to Xander was the apparent discovery that Ted was a robot. "I can't believe someone has the technology to make such a lifelike robot!" Xander exclaimed. There was something that was nagging at the back of his head, but for the time he chose to ignore it. "We better get to Buffy." He said. "If Ted's a robot, then…"

"He's not really dead! Oh god!" Willow said. She and Xander rushed out of the house and ran to Buffy's house, only to see Buffy standing over the now faceless Ted. Where his face should have been was a mess of wires and metal. Buffy was breathing heavily and had a skillet in hand. Xander turned to see that Joyce was lying unconscious in the living room. "Come on." He coaxed. "We better get him out of here before she wakes up. I know Cortana would want to see this."

----------

"Remarkable." Cortana commented. "Such advanced mechanical design. Look at all the design of the hands, especially. I can't believe any of you primitives would be able to construct such a complex piece of machinery."

Xander ignored the barb and examined the structure of Ted. She and Cortana had stripped away the rest of the artificial skin, leaving only the mechanical skeleton and placed it in Xander's warehouse/lab. A though suddenly burst into his head like a bomb. "If someone built this, would it be possible that someone built the Elite too?" Xander asked. "I mean, it wouldn't really have to be more advanced. Hell, Ted fooled all of us into thinking he was human. Just slap some armour plating on him and he's a robotic soldier right?"

"It would explain a lot." Cortana mused. "I had already considered the possibility, and I feel that is the most likely scenario. I've already created several mags worth of armour piercing rounds, take those with you for your next patrols. With any luck they should do the trick against the mechanical Elites."

"You mean Elite, right?" Xander asked.

"I'm assuming from our experience the other night that whoever stole the money is the one controlling that Elite, and now that he has the money he'll try to build more of them." Cortana replied. "So no, I mean Elites."

"That's a pleasant thought." Xander replied. "Not enough that I have to fight demons and Elites, now I have to fight damn robots too." He grumbled as he left the lab, leaving Cortana to continue her examination.

"I'll keep my ear to the ground." She called as he left.

---------

Xander sat down across from Buffy in the cafeteria. She was picking uninterestedly at a salad. "Hey." He greeted glumly. "How's my favourite Slayer doing today?"

"From the sounds of it, better than my favourite Spartan." She teased. "You and Cortana have a fight or something?"

"Nah, she just told me that someone in town is probably building an army of robotic Elites." Xander replied.

"Like Ted?" Buffy asked.

"Except bullet proof." Xander confirmed.

"Hey, whatever it is, we'll deal with it." Buffy said. "You've been doing your own thing lately, but we're still a team."

"To be honest, I don't know if you can help me with this." Xander replied. "It's not that you can't take care of yourself, you're just not really equipped for this kind of fight, and it's not really your fight anyways."

"It wasn't really your fight when you and Willow decided to help me." Buffy countered.

"This is different." Xander replied.

"It's always different Xander!" Buffy replied angrily, though she kept her voice low. "What the hell Xander, over the last couple of weeks we've barely seen you! Other than training with me the only person you let help you with anything isn't even real, they're just a damn computer program!"

"Cortana is a hell of a lot more than that." Xander replied, his own anger rising. "And yes, I don't want you to help. You know why? Spartans by nature aren't team players Buffy. Normal soldiers help us, they die, so we work alone."

"Like Slayers do?" Buffy asked. "You know, for someone who's helped me get rid of the notion of being a lone wolf you are being a pretty big hippocrate."

"It's different!" Xander said harshly. "The council wants you to work alone because they think having a life outside slaying will distract you. I work alone because I can do things no one else can. You may be strong and fast, but plasma still burns you just as bad as anyone else!"

"That's bullshit!" Buffy said loud enough that a few students glanced over. "You're holding out on me Xander, I know there's more to it than that."

"Look Buffy, just drop it." Xander pleaded. "I don't want to get into this with you."

"Then I don't want to be around you Xander." Buffy replied angrily. "When you're willing to cut the crap let me know." She picked up her tray and stormed off angrily.

"Smooth." Larry called from another table. Xander shot him a death glare, then turned and gazed unhappily at his now unwanted lunch.

---------

Willow looked up as Xander walked into the library. "Is Buffy here?" He asked warily.

Willow shook her head. "She was here earlier, she looked pretty mad. What happened?"

"We got into a bit of an argument." Xander replied, sighing.

"Want to talk about it?" Willow asked.

"Not really." Xander replied. They fell silent for a moment before Xander spoke up. "She's mad because I've been doing my own thing lately."

"Well, you have been kinda, well, lonery of late." Willow said.

"I just don't want you guys involved in my fights." Xander said. "Spartans don't work well with others."

"I think Buffy said the same thing when we wanted to help her at first." Willow countered.

"But it's different!" Xander exclaimed. "None of Buffy's enemies shoot plasma weapons or needlers."

"No but some are just as dangerous." Willow said. "Come on Xander I know there's more to it than that. You think you can keep secrets from me? I've known you for waaayyy too long."

"Someone once taught the Master Chief about the difference between lives spent and lives wasted." Xander said quietly.

"So you're worried that our lives will be wasted?" Willow asked.

"No, I'm worried that I won't hesitate to spend yours, Buffy's, or mine." Xander replied. "I don't ever, ever, want to be in a situation where I have to spend one of your lives, do you understand?"

"I do, but Buffy won't." Willow said. "Every time we patrol with her she feels the same way, Xander. It's part of being a leader."

"I'm not a leader." Xander said. "I don't want that kind of responsibility."

"No one does." Giles said, emerging from his office. "That's how you separate the heroes from the rest of us, they are ones who ignore what they want and take that responsibility anyways. Buffy has already done that and you're going to learn to do it too."

"Why?" Xander demanded. "Why can't you just let me work alone?"

"Xander, like it or not we are in this together." Giles replied. "Any time something Covenant related occurs, we are in uncharted waters. The only one qualified to lead us through them is you. Even Buffy accepts that. Why do you think she listened to everything you said when the two of you encountered the Hunters? "

Xander stood silently, considering Giles' words. "I need to take a walk." Xander finally decided. "Maybe go kill something. I'll see you guys later." Xander walked out of the library lost in thought.

---------

When Xander returned Buffy was kicking the crap out of a punching bag that Giles was futilely attempting to keep stationary. When Buffy saw Xander enter the library she redoubled her efforts, sending both Giles and the bag several feet back with a powerful sidekick. Giles dropped to the ground, gasping for air. "Xander!" He called. "Sweet merciful god! Train with Buffy, I'm going to sit down, see if perhaps my vision will return to some semblance or normality."

Xander grabbed to bag and stood steady as Buffy wailed on it again. "I thought I told you to go away." She said angrily, stopping for a moment.

"I'm sorry." Xander said. "Really, I shouldn't have been so condescending before."

"Look, I just want you to be straight with me." Buffy said.

"The truth is, I don't know if I'm ready to lay down your life." Xander said. "How do you do it? Lead us into battle every week, knowing that one of us could be killed at any time?"

Buffy's expression changed to one of understanding. "It's not easy." She said softly. "I can't guarantee that anyone will survive and I can't always protect those that I care about."

"It's not even my life I'm worried about." Xander continued. "And I know on the battlefield I won't hesitate to send any one of you to death if it makes the difference. It's afterwards I'm worried about. How could I live with myself?"

"Honestly Xander I don't have all the answers." Buffy replied. "You just do your best, you know? We've all accepted that we could die doing this, and I don't think any one of us would hesitate to sacrifice ourselves if it meant saving the rest of us. I understand now why you were cutting us off, but you can't. The fact is, we're safer together than we ever will be apart. You and Willow taught me that a long time ago."

Xander gave Buffy a smile, though he still didn't agree with her entirely. Spartans worked with other Spartans or they worked alone, everyone else was little more than a liability. Still, if they were unwilling to sit on the sidelines, there was little he could do. "Thanks Buffy." Xander said, feigning cheerfulness. Inside, he felt as though he had lost.

---------

**One Week Later**

Warren examined his creations. He had now completed all the robots he could, a total of thirty at a cost of roughly $200000 a piece. Regardless, he now had a force large enough to accomplish his objective. "Brave Covenant warriors." He said loudly. "Our time is at hand, we will take this planet for the glory of the Covenant!"

"We live to serve!" Thirty Elites replied loudly.

"Your first objective is the military base just outside of town." Warren said, pointing to the moderate sized base on a map. "Try to do as little damage to the base itself as possible, as I will make it into our headquarters and the weapons stockpiled there could prove useful."

"Sir." 01 said. "If we should run into the demon?"

"The Spartan could not even eliminate you, 01." Warren replied. "Your combined might will crush him easily. Now go, secure the base! Eliminate all soldiers who resist!"

The group of Elites turned and quickly left, slipping outside in the cover of night.

----------

Xander and Buffy were patrolling when Xander saw something extremely alarming appear on his motion tracker. "Multiple contacts!" He shouted. "Buffy! Get out of sight!" Buffy leapt up and pulled herself onto the roof of a single story building while Xander drew his rifle to the ready position. From around the side of a building came a massive group of Elites, Xander estimated at least twenty-five. "Cortana?" He asked.

"My guess is robots." Cortana replied. "You would never see that many Elites normally.

Xander popped an AP mag into his rifle and stood ready. He fired, catching the lead Elite in the arm. It swung back from the impact and Xander saw that the bullets had done some damage, it was now moving in a jerky fashion.

01 looked down at his left arm, which while damaged, was not his weapon arm. "28, 29, 30. Destroy the demon!" It called. Three Elites broke off from the group and levelled weapons, firing blasts of plasma towards Xander while the rest of the group kept heading for the base. Xander's shields dropped about twenty five percent, and he levelled his rifle and returned fire, hitting the middle Elite in the chest. Though holes appeared, the damage did not appear to be serious. Xander fired the rest of the clip into the robot, running to avoid plasma blasts as he did. Finally, just as his gun clicked empty, the robot shorted and went down, covered in holes from head to toe. The other two hardly noticed, continuing to move forward and bombard Xander with fire. Xander ducked behind a dumpster and reloaded. He waited a few seconds for his almost completely drained shields to recharge, then swung around and brought his rifle to bear, firing three three round bursts all aimed perfectly at the head of one of the robots. The bullets tore through the fake skin and punched holes in the metal skull, damaging several key systems. However, the robot refused to go down, firing erratically with decreased accuracy.

"God damn these things are tough!" Xander said angrily. He fired another burst, hitting the head again. This time, the structure couldn't take the stress and the entire skull popped off the robot, which promptly dropped to the ground. Xander again popped a fresh clip into the rifle, then turned and ran at the last robot, ignoring the fact that his shields were dropping fast. He set his weapon to full auto and kicked the plasma rifle out of the robot's hands as his shields dropped entirely, then put the muzzle of the rifle right up against the chest of the robot and held down the trigger.

In a matter of seconds the clip had emptied itself into the robot's gut. The Elite's mechanical innards had been blasted into shrapnel. Fluids seeped out of the numerous holes in the chest, then the robot simply seized up entirely, still standing.

"Nice work." Buffy said from the roof.

"The problem is there are 27 more of them." Xander replied grimly. "We need to find out where they're going."

"Not going to be a problem." Cortana told him. "I'm picking up transmissions, it looks like the military base just outside of town is under attack."

"They're attacking a military base?" Buffy asked.

"Not just attacking, conquering." Xander said. "There's no way those army boys will hold off twenty seven Elites, I almost got toasted by these three."

"So what are we gonna do?" Buffy asked. "We can't just let those army guys die."

"I don't have the firepower to take on that many." Xander said. "Maybe if they weren't so damn tough, but…"

"I think I can help you out." Cortana said. "Let's head back to the warehouse. Buffy, go get Giles and meet us there."

---------

"So are you planning to tell us just how we are going to take on twenty seven Elites without an army?" Xander asked. Giles and Buffy were standing beside him, looking around the lab in a state of awe.

Cortana, who was in front of them, simply stepped forward at opened the garage style door in front of her. Inside was a Warthog.

"I figured you needed a set of wheels, and while I was at it, I figured I might as well built you a set that can mount a mini-MAC." Cortana said with a smirk.

"Mini-MAC?" Giles asked.

"Magnetic Accelerator Cannon." Cortana replied.

"In other words, a big honking gun." Xander said.

"Big enough to punch a bowling ball sized hole in, oh, say, a robot Elite?" Cortana said.

"Okay." Xander decided. "Giles, you drive. I'll take the gun."

"What about me?" Buffy asked.

"Ooh, he saved you the fun job." Cortana said.

---------

The twenty-seven Elites had congregated in the middle of the base, which now lay strewn with bodies. Several soldiers who had surrendered were now lying face down on the ground. Smoke curled from the three gun emplacements that the robots had been forced to destroy, but otherwise the base was quite intact.

The front gate was also intact, at least, it was when the Elites had taken the base. With a mighty roar the Warthog smashed through the wooden gate and screeched to a stop a couple hundred feet away from the group of Elites. One of them stepped forward and raised his weapon to fire.

Inside his helmet, Xander grinned. "No chance buddy." He pulled the trigger on the mini-MAC and with a strange fwooshing sound a cannonball sized projectile flew towards the Elite at unbelievable speed. It hit him in the chest, sending him flying back and tumbling head over heels. When the robot stopped rolling, it was little more than a tangled mass of metal. The others, who had been watching, turned just in time to see the rocket strike another Elite. He, and the Elite beside him were blown apart by the shaped high explosive charge in the nose.

From her perch in the Warthog, Buffy grinned. "Cortana wasn't kidding, you did save me the fun job. Thanks Xander."

"Anytime." Xander replied simply, firing another round and eliminating another robot. Now, they spread out and began to fire at the Warthog. "Keep us moving, Giles!" Xander commanded. "Circle the base or something, we're sitting ducks!"

Giles floored it and the Warthog fishtailed a little before straightening out. Xander kept firing, picking off the Elites one by one with grim accuracy. "Buffy, nail any that get too close!" Xander shouted over the noise of the engine. He fired another shot, taking a robot's head clean off.

Plasma fire rained over the base, and the occasional bolt struck the truck, boiling away some of the titanium A that protected the frame of the truck. The captives, now realising that the fight was bock on, ran towards the armoury. One of them emerged with an LAW, took careful aim and fired, blasting away an Elite that was focused on the Warthog.

One of the Elites ran in front, taking aim and firing at the windscreen of the truck. "Get down!" Xander shouted at Giles, who ducked under the dashboard as plasma splashed over the glass, melting it down and leaving fizzling holes in the hood. Xander aimed and fired, missing just to the left and punching a five foot deep hole in the concrete. Giles, who had not taken his foot off the accelerator, hit the robot at over one hundred kilometres per hour, sending it flying then running it over again and crushing it under the mass of the two-ton truck.

----------

Warren, who was watching the battle unfold through the eyes of 01, screamed in rage. "Abort!" He shouted into the microphone. "All Elites are to retreat!"

"Understood." Came the reply from 01.

---------

"Hey, they're running!" Buffy said happily. The eight remaining Elites were hightailing it out of the base as fast as they could, leaving behind strewn mechanical parts and a cheering group of ragged soldiers. Xander managed to pick off one more before they were out of sight.

"Let's chase them!" Buffy shouted.

"No!" Xander said. "It's bad enough that we just drove a Warthog through a military base, I'm not taking through the town as well. We'll get them next time. Nice work, everyone." Xander looked at Giles and Buffy with pride, and a little more battlefield respect than he had before. Maybe working as a team won't be so bad, Xander thought.

----------

Warren screamed in rage. More than three quarters of his forces had been wiped out in a matter of minutes, and he didn't even know who had done it. "I swear, with the great prophets as my witness, I will kill that fucking demon!" He screamed to no one.

**End chap 5**

**Hope you guys liked that chapter, sorry again for the wait. Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave a review!**


	6. Things are Heating Up

**Thanks to: Dave Lister, HolyKnight, Rogue15, Sepharih, Shawn Provancha, Darklight, Ronin100, YoraththeWolf, Direwraithe, AjaKe, dogbertcarroll, W1REF1RE, and FireClaw for the reviews, I appreciate the feedback.**

**Dave Lister: There will be only one small part of Stargate SG-1 in this story, anything else will be saved for a sequel.**

**HolyKnight: Read on.**

**Rogue15: Yeah I have given some thought to Xander fighting alongside the military, but I guess for now we'll have to wait and see.**

**Sepharih: Oh don't worry you'll see more of Xander's four-wheeled friend.**

**YoraththeWolf: Actually I made a big deal of Ted for two reasons, one of which you saw last chapter, but the other will be a surprise.**

**Direwraithe: Yeah, RvB is hilarious, I was thinking about doing a chapter about it, any thoughts?**

**F1REW1RE: Not a bad idea with the weapons, I'll have to consider that.**

**Sepharih and Direwraithe, and anyone else who wants to know: Warren is, basically, totally fucked up. He's a fanatic but he knows he's "not worthy" at the same time and can't take part in the Great Journey. Despite this, he embarces the Covenant, so he prays directly to the prophets.**

**Anyways, I guess that's all so on with the story!**

**Chapter 6**

Xander brought the Warthog to a screeching halt in the makeshift garage Cortana had constructed. She shimmered into view and gasped at the still-smoking holes in the hood, the melted windscreen and the assorted dents and melted globs in the titanium A armour plating around the vehicle. "What the hell did you do to your brand new car?" Cortana asked exasperatedly.

"Don't blame me." Xander replied, dropping out of the driver's seat and onto the floor. "Giles was driving. We burst through the gates and he just sat there like a big, fire-drawing duck."

"Well, I'll make sure to e-mail him some driving lessons then." Cortana said, smiling. "I only got a fragmented view from the radio transmissions. Give me a report."

"We got most of them." Xander replied. "Seven or eight got away. The mini-MAC worked perfectly."

"What about exposure?" Cortana asked.

"Well, busting through the gates of a military base isn't exactly what I would call discreet, but we were moving quick and the soldiers were preoccupied, plus we stayed out of town so no civilians saw us. I'm sure there will be some questions about us, but more about the Elites. I brought back a sample, by the way." Xander reached into the back of the truck and pulled out an Elite that was nearly intact save for the noticeable lack of a head.

Cortana looked down and examined the disabled robot. "I'll have to peel away this armour before I can say anything for certain, but offhand I would say it appears similar to Ted. I'll do it after I fix the Warthog, then I'll let you know. You should get going, you have school in a couple hours."

Xander looked at his watch and groaned.

* * *

"So, what is the situation?" The President asked.

"Well sir, the base in Sunnydale was attacked by perhaps 30 soldiers of some kind." The Secretary General explained. "They were wearing bulletproof armour, and did not appear to be human. They used some kind of laser or plasma weapon that caused severe burns upon impact. We now believe that these are the same people who attacked the USS Patrick Henry. After the soldiers appeared to have won, a truck with a large mounted gun burst through the gates and opened fire on the radicals. No one got a clear look at the truck, but after the occupants had destroyed a couple of soldiers, it became apparent that they were not biological. The soldiers were robotic. The people in the truck eliminated several of the robots, then when they retreated they made a hasty exit."

The President looked at the report in his hands. "Gentlemen, can anyone here tell me what the hell actually happened in Sunnydale?" He asked angrily. "Is this a terrorist attack? A foothold?"

"For now sir we have not ruled it a foothold situation, though we have also not ruled that possibility out." The Secretary General replied. "We also do not believe it to be some kind of insurrectionist or terrorist group, as we received no demands."

"What about a foreign power, then?" the President asked. "Maybe Russia, or the Chinese?"

"No sir, we don't believe so." The Secretary General replied.

"Done anyone have even the tiniest idea what happened?" The President pressed. "What about the men who saved the base?"

The Secretary General shrugged. "No sir."

Senator Kinsey stood up. "Mr. President, I know little more than you, but I have looked into the records for the town of Sunnydale. Do you know that Sunnydale's death rate is as high as many third world countries, in many cases higher? This attack on a military base is only the tip of the iceberg."

The President folded his arms and looked at Kinsey. "Alright Senator, you clearly have a better grasp of the situation than anyone else." He glared at the rest of his staff. "What do you propose?"

"Well sir, before we come to any conclusions I think we should get a better idea of what exactly is going on over there." Kinsey replied. "I suggest we form a group designed to uncover what exactly is going on in Sunnydale and, if necessary, try and contain it."

"You're talking about a military operation?" The President asked.

"No Mr. President, I think this needs to be done more discreetly." Kinsey replied. "I believe that it would be better to conduct this operation from a separate, secret facility. And I don't think it should be run by the military, at least not entirely."

"I'm assuming you have another suggestion?" The President asked.

"Yes sir, I'm not sure if you're entirely familiar with a civilian operation, known as the NID." Kinsey smiled sinisterly.

* * *

Xander watched the reporter standing in front of the military base. Behind him, blast marks spackled a concrete wall, and the edge of the hole that Xander had gouged in the tarmac was visible. "Though details are sketchy, government and military officials offer assurances that this is an isolated incident. Fatalities for base personnel are now estimated to be at least 50, if not more." 

"The military seems to be doing a pretty good job of keeping this covered up, or at least bending the story the way they want." Xander remarked.

Cortana, who had joined him in front of the TV, nodded. "Yes, I imagine this won't be public knowledge any time soon."

"So did you learn anything about the robot?" Xander asked.

"It's more basic that Ted in many ways." Cortana replied. "The skeletal structure, and especially the hands are simplified. However at the same time, the structure is designed to withstand much more abuse than Ted. The whole thing is plated with Kevlar or hard metals. It's clearly built with battle as the number one priority"

"What about the, what would you call it, brain?" Xander asked.

Cortana shrugged. "Couldn't tell you much. You blew it off, so all I can tell you is that the head is where the main CPU is located."

"Oh. Sorry." Xander said sheepishly. "Anything else of note?"

"There are some curious design qualities, specifically relating to power regulation. It seems an awful lot like a meld of human and Covenant design elements." Cortana continued. "Whatever we're dealing with here is definitely as much human as Covenant."

"How is that even possible?" Xander asked. "Covenant and human are mortal enemies, like Reds and Blues, spaghetti and milk!"

"Interesting choice of analogy." Cortana replied. "Perhaps this has something to do with how I got here in the first place. Maybe someone has residual memories like you did."

"So who then?" Xander wondered aloud. "It couldn't have been any of the Grunts, so it must have been the Elite. Who was that again?"

"I have no idea." Cortana said. "He ran off before I saw his face, I was trying to keep your from killing yourself, remember?"

Xander ignored her. "Damn, we need to find out who that is. I'll have to organize something with the gang." Xander sighed.

"Still having doubts about them?" Cortana asked.

"Well, yes." Xander replied. "I've accepted that they won't let me pull away, and that they accept me as a leader, but still. It would be so easy for one of them to catch a stray shot of plasma or something."

Before Cortana could reply, Xander's communicator blinked and beeped. He looked down at it, and saw that Buffy was calling him. He pressed the reply and said, "Yeah?"

"Xander, we have a problem." Buffy's voice came through the communicator, sounding slightly tinny.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Angel and I found out what Spike is up to, he's assembled the Judge, some kind of unstoppable demon." Buffy said. "We're meeting at the library."

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Xander said, standing and heading for the door. "I'll meet you there." He called to Cortana, who nodded and vanished.

* * *

Xander walked through the doors to the library and saw that Buffy, Giles, Ms. Calender, Willow, Oz and Cordelia were already there. "Hey." He greeted, discreetly hiding his communicator at the sight of Ms. Calender. "What's up?" 

"It seems Spike has assembled a demon known as the Judge." Giles replied, cleaning his glasses. "From what I understand, the Judge is an extremely powerful demon that cannot be killed. It took an entire army to defeat him before, and even them they were forced to separate him into different boxes to keep him apart."

"Hmm." Xander said simply. He turned to Buffy. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Never better. Angel and I got caught, but we got away without much problem."

"Where is Angel, anyways?" Xander asked.

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know, I haven't seen him since last night."

Xander detected something strange in the Slayer's voice, but decided to file it away and deal with it later. "So, any plans?"

"What can we do?" Ms. Calender asked. "It took an entire army to stop him last time. No offense Buffy, but you wouldn't stand a chance."

Xander smirked, deciding to keep to himself that he, or rather the Master Chief, beat the army that came after him.

"What's so funny Xander?" Cordelia said, looking at the expression on his face. "You seem awfully calm for someone who's facing certain death."

Xander shrugged. "We've done it before."

"No." Cordelia countered. "Buffy's done it before, you stay at the back and try not to get in the way."

"Hey, leave him alone." Willow said. "He does more than you know." She gave Xander a sympathetic smile.

"What?" Cordelia asked. "He gets coffee as well as donuts?"

Xander shrugged, not letting Cordelia get under his skin. "Tell you what Cordelia, when you stake one vampire, then you can gloat over me, but until then, just sit down."

Cordelia was surprised by the supreme confidence in Xander's voice, and she took his suggestion.

"Anyways," Xander continued coolly, "the army beat him by dismembering him, right? So, we have faster ways of doing that these days."

"Chainsaw?" Buffy suggested.

"Combine?" Oz suggested, drawing a strange look from everyone. "It's a piece of farming equipment."

"Good, but I was thinking something that you wouldn't have to be quite so close to use." Xander said. "Something that you could launch?"

The lights went on in Buffy's head. "Oh. OH! Good idea Xander!"

"I don't get it." Ms. Calender said.

"I'm in the dark too." Oz added.

"Rocket launcher." Xander said simply. "They'll never see it coming. We'll they'll see the rocket coming but you know what I mean."

"A rocket launcher." Cordelia scoffed. "Brilliant plan Xander! Are you just going to walk onto the military base and ask them for one?"

"For your information I already know where we can get one." Xander shot back. "Just leave it to me, you guys figure out where he's going to be." Xander turned and walked out of the library. Cordelia followed him.

"Xander!" She called. "What is with you lately? Since when are you confident, and tough, and authoritative?" She softened her tone and moved closer to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Xander lied.

"Yeah, right. It's getting harder and harder to make fun of you." Cordelia said. "And not just because I'm starting to not dislike you, but I'm also running out of ammunition. You haven't tripped, or failed a class, or made an idiot of yourself for a while now. Not since… Halloween." Cordelia said, looking up at Xander. "Whoa! How did I not notice this before?"

"Notice what?" Xander asked, feigning innocence.

Cordelia grabbed his arm, gripping it hard. "People don't just turn into all muscle overnight! I've seen you in gym class, you never looked like this before."

"I've been working out for a while now." Xander replied.

"Xander, cut the crap. I'm not stupid." Cordelia said sharply. "What happened to you after Halloween? Are you still Master Chief?"

Xander grabbed Cordelia and dragged her to a more secluded corner. "Cordelia, you can't tell anyone." Xander hissed. "The only people who know are Willow, Buffy, Angel, Giles and Oz. Now you know too, I'm a Spartan."

"What's the big deal?" Cordelia asked. "I can keep a secret. Let go of my arm."

Xander released his grip on her and turned away. "I mean it, do not tell anyone."

"Fine, you have my word." Cordelia said. "Why do you care anyways? Buffy's the Slayer and a lot of people know about it."

"A Spartan isn't quite as quiet to the general population as a Slayer." Xander replied. "Case in point, I busted into a military base the other night and tore the place up with a truck that had a giant gun on it. Think the military might be a little curious as to who I am? Plus I'm sure the Watcher's council would be interested in taking a look at me."

Cordelia shrugged. "Hey, it's your life. So I'm guessing you really can get a rocket launcher then?"

Xander gave a half smile.

* * *

Willow was in the library when Angel arrived. Immediately, she could feel that there was something different about him. Willow could see it in the expression on his face, and the swagger in his step. "Angel?" She asked. 

"Angel's not home anymore, Willow." Angelus replied. "Just me." He advanced menacingly towards Willow, causing her to shriek loudly.

Xander immediately emerged from the stacks and flipped over the railing and over Willow, landing between her and Angelus. "Don't. Touch. Her." He said with conviction.

Angelus laughed cruelly. "You gonna stop me, Xander?" He looked him over. "You're tougher now than you were before, but you seem to be missing your armour."

"I don't need it to beat you." Xander lied. He took up a fighting stance and waited, keeping his face neutral.

Angelus eyed him up coolly then snorted. "Another time maybe. I have places to go, people to kill, towns to destroy. You know how it is."

"So much to do so little time," Xander replied sarcastically.

Angel turned and walked out, leaving Xander standing in front of a trembling Willow. He turned and helped her off the floor. "What just happened?" Xander asked. "Isn't Angel supposed to be a good guy?"

* * *

Xander arrived at school the next day with the Jackhammer rocket launcher in a duffel bag. He brought it into the library and set it down on the table, checking to make sure that no one other than his friends were around. He saw Giles, Buffy, Willow, Oz and Cordelia sitting around, but no Miss Calender. "Brought the rockets," He said simply. 

Giles turned to look. "Yes Xander, good work." He sullenly returned to looking at the ground.

"Why's everyone so down?" Xander asked. "We've got the Judge licked, isn't that reason to celebrate?"

"Xander, we just found out that Miss Calender has been spying on us," Willow explained. "She's part of the Gypsy tribe that cursed Angel."

"So she's the one who-"

"No," Buffy answered, cutting him off. "That was my fault."

Before Xander could answer, alarm noises began coming from the air around them. Xander whirled around, looking for the source. "What the hell is that?" he asked.

Giles jumped to his feet. "The dimensional wards have been breached," he answered. "My guess is the Covenant have made another appearance."

"Those guys have impeccable timing," Xander said dryly.

"Which do we deal with first?" Willow asked.

"Both," Xander answered decisively. "You guys take care of the Judge, I'll deal with the Covenant. Buffy's used a rocket before, she knows what she has to do. Right?"

"Sure," Buffy answered easily. "I have to kill him." There was a hardness in Buffy's voice that he hadn't heard since she fought the Master, and at that moment Xander knew Buffy would do what had to be done.

He was wrong.

* * *

Xander threaded the fiber-optic wire up over the ridge he was behind and plugged it into his helmet. The view automatically switched to that of what the tiny camera was seeing, which, to Xander's dismay, was a lot more than the two previous Hunters. Approximately five hundred feet away from Xander at least three dozen grunts, seven or eight jackals and four Elites, two of which had energy swords, stood in a defensive position around a mangled dropship. Though the dropship was banged up, the most obvious damage was that the back left corner was simply gone. There was a precision line along the hull where it had separated from the rest of the ship. 

"Looks like the portal closed partway on the ship," Cortana observed. "It must have sheared away the back part of the ship, which incidentally is where the engines were located."

"What do you think?" Xander asked. "Can I take this many by myself?"

"The probability of a successful head on assault is not stellar," Cortana replied. "The outcome is only 43.28 percent for a victory by you. I would suggest trying to eliminate the forces from range."

"How perfect, the one weapon I don't have is a sniper rifle," Xander retorted, rolling his eyes.

"The battle rifle should be an acceptable substitute. Switch to single shot and attach the silencer," Cortana ordered. "Hit the Jackals first, then prioritize as needed."

Xander did both and then slaved the scope to his helmet screen. He held the weapon up over the ridge while keeping his head below. It was a strange feeling to aim the rifle from his position, but Xander quickly sighted a jackal, then ran through the pattern.

"Can't decide which one to hit first?" Cortana asked.

"I figure if I'm quick I can get at least two or three before they get their shields up," Xander reasoned. He again took aim at his first target and, after a second to steady his aim, he fired. The rifle emitted a barely audible pop, and three large holes appeared in the Jackal's midsection, quickly beginning to seep thick alien blood. Before the first one even dropped, Xander had re-adjusted his aim and fired again, taking out another jackal quickly. He re-aimed and managed to get one more shot before the Covenant forces suddenly realized what was going on. The jackals deployed their wrist-mounted shields and took cover behind them, while the Elites barked strange, garbled orders to the grunts, who began surveying the scene, plasma pistols and needlers drawn.

"Time to move, Shorty," Cortana ordered. "They'll figure out where those shots came from soon enough."

Xander withdrew his rifle, then shuffle-walked in a crouch position about 200 feet down the ridgeline, where he again dropped to his back and aimed his rifle again. Lucky for him, the Jackals' shields were now out of line, pointed at where he was before. Xander took aim and fired again, picking off another three jackals quickly, as well as a grunt. This time, the Covenant forces picked up on where he was firing from and returned the favour with interest. Xander hunched down as the solid rock wall in front of him began to melt and turn to glass.

"Get off your ass!" Cortana shouted.

Xander took a second to reload his nearly spent mag before standing up and taking pot shots as he ran. He picked off several more Grunts before expending his ammunition, but with an enemy in site the Covenant forces began advancing towards him, while the remaining jackals and a couple of grunts laid down covering fire. Xander dove behind a particularly thick piece of rock. He dropped his battle rifle and pulled twin SMGs from their holsters.

"Well," Cortana commented, "looks like we've got ourselves a good old fashioned shoot-out."

* * *

"No weapon forged can stop me," The Judge declared, leering haughtily at the Slayer and Scoobies in front of him. 

"That was then," Buffy said. She knelt down and removed the Jackhammer from the duffel bag it was it. Hefting onto her shoulder, Buffy calmly finished, "This is now."

Angelus and Drusilla dove away from the Judge, who stood there staring at the twin tubes. "What does that do?" He asked.

Buffy pulled the trigger, and a rocket shot out of the tube and ignited, flying directly into the Judge, who was immediately blown apart. "You guys pick up the pieces," she said, "I'm going after Angel."

* * *

Unbeknownst to Buffy, things were not going quite as well for Xander. Pinned down from all angles, Xander had been able to chip away at the Covenant forces, eliminating the remaining jackals, several of the grunts and one Elite. Unfortunately, he was starting to run out of ammunition. Xander popped his last two clips into the bullet hose SMGs. 

"Gotta make those count," Cortana said. "Sorry I didn't think to bring more, I had no idea we would be facing so many."

Xander grimly surveyed the scene with a cold, calculating eye that came entirely from the Spartan side of him. At least fifteen grunts and three Elites remained, two of which held energy swords. It would take his remaining rounds just to take out two of the Elites, leaving him with nothing but a combat knife to deal with the grunts and another Elite.

"You know we can't win this, right?" Xander asked.

"The probability is extremely low," Cortana replied.

"Then I say we go down fighting," Xander said. He emerged from behind the rock and fired several rounds, taking out a grunt trying to hit him with needles. Xander spun on his heel and sprayed fire at the closest target he could find, one of the sword-wielding Elites. His shields glowed a bright blue as he charged Xander, ignoring the hail of bullet's directed at him. Xander held down both triggers until he heard the chambers click empy. The Elite, which now stood only a few feet in front of him, dropped to its' knees and then fell forward. Dropping down, Xander quickly snatched the white bar out of the dead Elite's claws, fiddling for some kind of switch or button. He was rewarded when the energy sword blasted out of the handle and materialized in front of him.

Xander ran at full speed towards the nearest grunt, dodging left and right to avoid the needles that the alien was launching at him. As he ran past, he swung low with the sword, bringing it back around in an arc that sliced through the hapless grunts mid-section. The little alien screamed in agony as his innards were torn apart by the plasma blade, which gutted him entirely.

There was a flash around Xander and he looked at his shield bar, which now read zero. Xander felt the heat begin to rise in his suit as plasma pistols began scoring the armour. Xander accepted this with a grim certainty. There was nowhere to take cover and let his shields recharge. He was going to die, probably a very painful death as his suit became his own personal microwave. "Goodbye, Cortana," He said quietly.

Xander's vision began to grow red as the heat inside the suit grew to over 300 degrees Fahrenheit. He noticed somewhere in the back of his mind that there was also a serious burn on his abdomen, but everything felt dulled, slow. Which is probably why he didn't notice Cortana shouting at him until the first explosion rocked the ground.

A group of eight grunts exploded into little bits as an Ardent V missile struck the ground directly in the center of the group. Immediately the Covenant shifted their fire to the new target, which Xander dimly recognized as a Pelican. The human dropship hovered silently fifty feet over the ground. The two fifty millimeter machine guns on the front suddenly lit up as they sprayed bullets over the field, tearing apart the grunts like soggy paper bags. The Elites did not fare much better. The guns, capable of firing off 4000 rounds per minute each, tore through the shields in less than a second and literally blew apart the Elites, tearing off limbs and even significant portions of torso.

Xander managed to crawl away from the scene. Once the firing had stopped, the temperature in Xander's armour had begun to drop as the suit vented to majority of it's hydrostatic gel. He managed to get to his feet and stumbled towards the Pelican, which was lowering to the ground.

A gruff looking, black marine chewing on a cigar stump looked on impatiently from the open rear hatch. "Come on son, get your butt in gear. I don't got all damn day!" He barked.

Xander lurched into the back of the dropship and fell forward, rolling over as his shoulder hit one of the bench-style seats. The marine looked over, concerned. "Don't you dare give up on me son! I will personally kick your ass from here to Sunday!" He turned to look to the cockpit. "Get us airborne, now! And get that corpsman back here double time!"

Xander's vision began to fuzz. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the tag on the marine's uniform, which read 'Sgt. Johnson.'

**End chap 6**

**Hope you liked that chapter. Sorry it took me a while to get it out but since I'm paying a crapload of money to be at school, it takes priority. Thanks to everyone for reading and please leave a review!**

**P.S. I have decided I should probably get a beta reader since most of the stuff I end up posting is quite raw (usually posted within less than an hour of being finished). So if anyone would be interested in doing that, please send me an e-mail.**


	7. Extra Crispy Xander

**Thanks to: Rogue15, Schiavona, Anime-Ronin, dogbertcarroll, YoraththeWolf, Demented Mite, Fireclaw, Genesis, SotF, W1REF1RE, Stcobb, Suzuka Blade, Kim carol, Xon, Dracowar, and DragonArmada for the reviews. And many thanks as well to my new beta-readers, Dave Lister and StorytellerSJK.**

**W1REF1RE: This story actually takes place at the start of Halo 2, so no. The ships on both sides are just generic dropships.**

**Suzuka Blade: Uhh, thanks. Too bad they didn't get here in time to kill the virus that wiped out one of my computers. Damn my brother!**

**Xon: For this story, I am keeping the SG-1 crossover to hints only, ie Kinsey starting an operation in the last chapter. Anything else will be saved for a sequel.**

**Since I have a week off, keep your fingers crossed I might even be able to get out one more chapter before I go back. Anyways that's all so on with the story!**

**Chapter 7**

As the Pelican rose up off the ground, Sgt. Johnson was surprised to hear a female voice from the suit. "Sergeant, we need to get back to our base of operations," Cortana said.

Johnson spun around and looked down. "What the hell? I thought Master Chief was the only Spartan who carried an AI."

"In a way, he is," Cortana replied. "No more time for questions, I have a warehouse in the industrial district that we need to get to. If we don't get him there fast he's not going to make it. I'll transmit coordinates."

Johnson turned to the cockpit. "Hey, flyboys! Go to the coordinates you're getting! And where the hell is that corpsman?"

"Sorry sir," a shaky voice answered. A very young corpsman with blood covered hands walked to the back of the ship, he had been tending to the co-pilot. He looked down at the Spartan with a mix of awe and horror. Xander's normally luminescent green armour was mostly charred black, and there was a large hole right around Xander's left kidney where blackened flesh was visible beneath. "Oh god," The corpsman said. "Is he alive?"

"Not if you don't get your damn wits together and help him!" Johnson barked.

"Yes sir, sorry sir," The corpsman knelt down and removed Xander's helmet, then carefully laid his head down on the deck.

"Jesus, he can't be older than 18," said the other marine in the room. Though the Pelican could hold over 50 marines comfortably, this one carried only Johnson, another marine corporal, the corpsman and two pilots.

"He's not a normal Spartan," Cortana replied. "Do your best to stabilize him, I need to make a call."

* * *

Buffy looked down as her communicator blinked. She pressed the button and an image of Cortana appeared. "Cortana, what's up?" She asked, surprised to be getting a call from the AI.

"Buffy, Xander's in trouble," Cortana explained. "He's been hurt pretty badly."

"Is he going to be ok?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know yet," Cortana said gravely. "He's been burned pretty badly. But we have another problem. Looks like a group of UNSC marines came through as well. We need a place to hide their dropship. Can you get Giles and Willow together and see if you can come up with something?"

"I'll see what I can do," Buffy said. "Make sure Xander comes through this okay."

"Will do." Cortana vanished, leaving a very concerned Buffy wondering how to hide a spaceship.

* * *

Xander drifted in a haze of unconsciousness. He could hear voices moving around him and occasionally he could see figures moving around. He only got little bits of the conversations.

"… Third degree burns to 70 percent of his body…"

"… Flash clone a kidney…"

"… Collapsed lung…"

Eventually all noises stopped, and Xander fell into a deep, deep sleep. In actuality, it was a coma.

* * *

Cortana looked down at her patient. Xander lay on an operating table, completely still and wearing only boxers. Besides the massive burn that had destroyed one of his kidneys and his small intestine, he was covered in third degree burns. The only area that had no third degree burns was his head, but his face and scalp were still beet red.

Cortana had replaced the damaged organs with flash-cloned replacements and re-inflated Xander's lung, but Xander was not in the clear yet. With so much skin damage, there was a high chance of infection setting in, even with the powerful dermal regeneration and antibacterial solutions Cortana had at her disposal. Once he stabilized, she would have to create some skin grafts as well to avoid scarring. For now, Xander had slipped into a coma, and all she could do was wait.

Johnson walked up behind her, looking the Spartan over. "Now that he's dealt with, want to tell me just what the hell is going on here?" He asked.

Cortana turned around and looked him over with a half smile. "Same Sergeant Johnson I remember. Gruff, tough, foul-mouthed son of a bitch."

"That's me," Johnson said with a laugh.

"What happened to you guys?" Cortana asked.

Johnson grew serious again. "I was part of a point defense coordination against the Covenant, those slimy bastards found Earth."

"WHAT?" Cortana asked in shock.

"That's what I said too," Johnson replied. "They jumped in system and ducked under the super-MACs. They landed in New Mombassa. We were driving them off, but most of my squad got killed. The last of us were pulling out when a Covenant dropship found us, started chasing us down. We turned a corner and suddenly there's this big green vortex in front of us. The pilot couldn't stop in time so we flew right through it.

There was a big flash, then all of a sudden we're out over some desert. I guess those pricks chasing us didn't get all the way through, their ship crashed. We flew around for a while trying to figure out where we were, then came back when we saw your boy there fighting them. Wanna tell us where we exactly we are now?"

"Well Sergeant, believe it or not you're on Earth," Cortana replied. "That green vortex you saw was a portal to another time, and another dimension."

Johnson looked at Cortana with a stone cold expression. "That doesn't make any god damn sense!" He burst out. "Another dimension?"

"Afraid so," Cortana replied. "I've been here for a couple of months now. Quick note, the same rules do not apply here. It's 1997, but a lot of things are pretty different from our time."

"And what about him?" Johnson asked, jerking his head towards Xander's still form. "I know the Spartans aren't that young. Master Chief is almost 40."

"His name is Xander, and he was transformed into a Spartan the same time I arrived here."

Johnson looked at Cortana thoughtfully for a moment. "One thing I don't understand, I talked to you five minutes before I we went through that portal. How could you have been there and been here at the same time?"

"I must be a copy," Cortana said resignedly.

Before Cortana and Johnson could talk further Buffy, Willow and Giles walked into the room. "Oh god Xander!" Willow cried, running over to the table he was lying on.

Giles looked at Cortana sternly. "Tell me what happened, now," he ordered.

"I'll tell you what happened," Johnson replied. "That boy took on over fifty Covenant troops with no support and not near enough ammo. Took out more than thirty of them before he damn near bought the bullet."

"Is he going to make it?" Buffy asked.

"I've repaired the internal damage as best I could," Cortana replied. "Still, the damage to his skin is massive, and I can't graft at all until he stabilizes. He's in a coma now, and I think until there's a change in his condition it would be best to leave him that way."

Willow walked over, looking at Xander's beaten and blackened form. "If only he would have let us help, this wouldn't have happened," she murmured.

"Xander did what had to be done," Giles said quietly. "We had to take on the Judge, and he had to take on the Covenant. All we can do now is hope for the best."

Buffy looked at his figure, then at his charred armour, which stood in a case nearby. "Hey," She said, examining it closer. "What's that?" She pointed to the hand, which still held a white bar, stuck to the palm from the heat of the suit.

* * *

Xander looked around. There was nothing but a circle of light and blackness beyond. Standing on the other side of the circle was a woman, wearing a long coat. She stood on the edge of the light, and Xander could not see her face.

"Hello?" He asked. "Who are you?"

"Why Xander, I'm surprised you don't recognize me. Even though you're not the same as the others, I would think I've played a significant role in your life," The woman said warmly. She stepped into the light.

Xander looked her over. Slightly graying brown hair, aged yet elegant figure, lab coat and glasses. She had a smile on her face that looked friendly and genuine. It was Dr. Halsey, creator and head of the SPARTAN II project.

"Dr. Halsey?" Xander asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm not really here, Xander," She replied. "Or rather it's you that isn't here. You see, you're in a coma."

Memories came flooding back to Xander. "I lost a battle to the Covenant."

"Well, I don't know if lost would be the right word," Dr. Halsey said thoughtfully. "You certainly didn't win, at least not you personally. But in the end, the Covenant lost, which means you made the right call. In this case, the right call was the hardest thing to do," She stepped close to Xander, cupping his cheek with one of her hands. "I just want you to know I'm proud of you, I'm proud of all my Spartans."

"But I'm not really a Spartan," Xander said.

"Could have fooled me," Halsey replied. "You did fool those marines. Xander, you may not have been a Spartan before, but you are now. And just like a Spartan, you need to survive when you have no business doing so. Trust me, your friends are going to need you." She gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Take care, Xander," She walked away and faded away to nothing, leaving Xander alone in the light.

* * *

Cortana checked Xander's vitals one more time, then turned to the assembled Scoobies and Marines. "Okay then, I think introductions are in order?"

Sergeant Johnson stepped forward. "Name's Johnson. This is what's left of my squad. Corporal Monetti and Corpsman Danton. Petty Officer First Class Mendez and Petty Officer Second Class Winters are the flight crew, they're still in the Pelican, waiting for a place to land."

Buffy nodded, stepping forward and shaking Johnson's hand. "I'm Buffy, this is Willow and Giles. Thanks for saving Xander."

"More than happy to help a fellow marine," Johnson replied. "So are you his friends?"

"Yes, we're his friends," Buffy answered quickly before Cortana, Giles or Willow could reply. Cortana cast her a meaningful glance but said nothing. "Is there anything we can do to help?" She asked, dutifully ignoring Cortana.

"Well, I think Cortana is going to let us stay here with Xander," Johnson replied. "But we need to find a place to hide our dropship."

"You're in luck," Buffy said. "Sunnydale is one big mess of underground tunnels and caves. We should be able to help you out."

With the help of Willow and Giles, the group was able to locate a large cavern a couple of miles outside of town. Giles and Buffy took the Warthog, and were awed to watch the massive dropship hover daintily into the tight confines of the cave before setting down gently. A moment later two women in greased-stained flight suits and caps similar to those worn by aircraft carrier crew emerged from the cavern. One of them had a large bloodstain on the right shoulder, but seemed to be in okay condition. The four of them squeezed in and rode back to the warehouse for a meeting. Meanwhile Cortana and Corpsman Dayton had erected an oxygen tent around Xander with the hope of lowering the chance of infection.

Once back at the warehouse, both pilots hopped out of the Warthog and joined the rest of the squad, looking over Xander.

"My god, he's so young!" Petty Officer Mendez exclaimed. "I always pictured the Spartans being a little older, and taller too."

"Cortana has just briefed me on the situation," Johnson said. "He's not a normal Spartan, and it turns out we're not on Earth anymore."

"Actually, you are," Cortana corrected.

"Okay, so we are," Johnson replied, sighing. "We're in another dimension."

"What?" Winters asked. "How does that work?"

"Apparently that big green thing that the two of you decided to fly right through was a portal," Corporal Monetti snarled.

"Hey, I didn't 'decide' to fly through anything," Mendez said defensively. "You know how much momentum a 75 ton dropship has? Newsflash: A Pelican doesn't stop on a dime!"

"You should have made allowances for that!" Monetti yelled back loudly. "Now we're stuck one some backward, shithole, bastardized version of Earth while those Covenant fuckers invade our home world!"

"Well excuse me for not expecting to run into a trans-dimensional portal in the middle of downtown New Mombassa!"

"Give her a break!" Winters said. "There was no way to see it and nothing we could have done!" Buffy and the other Scoobies looked at each other in surprise at the fight.

"Enough!" Johnson shouted. "Did I give any of you permission to bitch?"

"I'm sorry sir," Monetti said. "I'm a little freaked out."

"Well deal with it, marine!" Johnson barked. "We've been in worse situations than this. We just need to find our way back to Earth."

"Uhh, that may be a problem," Cortana said carefully. "We, well, we're not really sure how this whole portal thing works. So far, we haven't been able to discern any pattern to the portals' appearance, and they seem to be one-way only."

Johnson cast a cold glance at the AI. "We need to get back, Earth is under attack."

"Well I don't know what to tell you," Cortana said. "I'm sorry. I can't do anything about your situation. For now, you're all stuck here."

* * *

Slumbering in the confines of his oxygen tent, Xander saw himself back in the circle of light again. This time, on the other side of the circle was a man, shorter than he was and with an old Dick Tracy style hat. "Now I know the Master Chief doesn't know you," Xander said.

The man laughed and moved forward. "You got that right. Name's Whistler, I'm a balance demon. I'm here on behalf of the Powers that Be."

"Uh, okay?" Xander said, a little miffed by the statement.

"See, here's the thing," Whistler said. "There are a lot of folks up there who aren't particularly happy with the situation down here, see this whole thing with you being a Spartan? It's kind of a freak accident. That's the problem with chaos spells, they're unpredictable."

"I don't understand, why would anyone be unhappy with this?" Xander asked. "I'm doing a lot more good than I ever could before."

"Yeah that's the problem," Whistler explained. "It's all a fragile balance. You know that saying the eternal struggle between good and evil? The key word there is eternal."

"So you're saying no matter what Buffy does she can never win?" Xander asked, dismayed.

"No her job? Eventually it will end," Whistler replied. "Eventually it would be possible to kill off all the vampires and demons on the planet, but the evil would have to come from another source. You know, terrorists, dictators, and aliens, that sort of thing. The problem is that you're messing that up. And Cortana, let me tell you she is a real problem too! No one thought that she would be considered a life form, which is why this whole mess started in the first place."

"So what do I do?" Xander asked. "Are you going to make me normal again?"

"What's done can't be undone, even by the powers," Whistler replied. "We're stuck with you, which means we have to decide what to do. Let me tell you a whole lot of people were in favour of making sure you didn't wake up from this coma, kid."

"So why didn't they?" Xander asked defiantly.

"Because the Powers still have plans for you. They don't want to give up their chess piece," Whistler explained.

"What are they going to do?" Xander asked.

"Let's just say that little battle that put you in here, well, it's gonna look like a walk in the park by the time we're done with you," Whistler said. "The Powers have decided that you and Cortana get to keep working here, but in return you owe us a favour."

"Why?" Xander said. "You didn't do anything except not kill me."

"Exactly," Whistler agreed. "Also, Covenant activity is going to start happening more to maintain balance, or really just to keep you busy so you don't mess up the balance too much."

Xander looked at him strangely for a moment, then sighed. "Fine," he said. "What kind of favour?"

"Trust me, you'll know what it is when you see it," Whistler said. "Oh, and one more thing, kid. Try not to get yourself in this position again, the Powers might decide to change their mind if the opportunity comes up." Whistler backed away and, same as Dr. Halsey, faded away, leaving Xander alone.

* * *

Three days past, and still Xander remained in his coma. However, he had stabilized and Cortana and Corpsman Danton had done several operations to repair the extensive burns. Cortana had flashed-cloned and grafted on several large patches of skin, which appeared to be taking nicely, with very little rejection. Cortana was confident that the scarring would be minimal, and that Xander would wake up soon.

Meanwhile, Buffy had still not said anything to the Marines about her abilities, or anything supernatural in general. They had told the Marines to stay out of town, under the auspices that they would stick out and easily be recognized as foreign.

In reality, Buffy had come to the decision after watching the Marines spar. Both Johnson and Monetti were in very good shape, and Danton was in pretty good shape as well. However, none of them had particularly good hand-to-hand combat skills, and the flight crew, from what they could tell, only had aerial combat skills. Johnson seemed the most adept, but he was clearly out of practice. It was obvious that the Marines' first instinct was to draw their gun first, and leave the kicking to the already dead corpses.

Cortana however, was less than pleased with her decision to keep the Marines in the dark. "Buffy, you really need to tell these guys what's going on," She said.

"Look Cortana, these guys seem a little on edge," Buffy replied. "I think they're having trouble dealing with the situation, which isn't surprising. We need to give them time before we crank up the weird-o-meter on them."

"Buffy, these guys are in the middle of fighting a war against a group of genocidal aliens, and Johnson was one of the survivors of the Halo incident. They've seen and fought things that would make a normal man scream and cry," Cortana said wryly.

"Yeah, but they were things that could be killed with guns," Buffy countered. "Look, I'm not saying that these guys aren't tough, or battle ready, but we need to give them time. Besides, their hand-to-hand skills are pretty bad. If we let them fight, they would probably just get themselves killed."

"Willow and Xander didn't when they started helping you," Cortana pointed out.

"Willow and Xander didn't think they were tough as nails Marines," Buffy said.

"These guys ARE tough as nails Marines," Cortana argued.

"Look, this is my choice," Buffy said irritably. "I'm going to let Xander take the reins with it, these are his people, or at least more his than mine. In the mean time, they WILL NOT be told about what goes on here."

"Fine," Cortana huffed. "But I think you're making a mistake. Secrets just build mistrust."

* * *

Four days later, the tension between the Scoobies and the Marines had grown a fair bit. The Scoobies had been tracking a werewolf, and had done their best to keep it quiet from the Marines, especially when they found out that said werewolf was Oz. Johnson had known something was going on, and had been pissed off about being kept in the dark.

Finally, after a total of seven days in a coma, Xander's eyelids began to flutter. He opened them to find his vision blurry. After a few seconds of moving his head around, he saw a purplish blur moving towards him and sighed with relief.

Cortana pulled back the oxygen tent and gave Xander a smile. "Hey Shorty, good to see you're awake. I was worried for a little while."

Xander's vision began to coalesce. He looked around to see that he was taking up a small corner of his warehouse, surrounding by several monitors displaying his vitals. "I take it I took a bit of a beating out there." Xander said blearily.

"That would be an understatement," Cortana replied.

"But you killed a whole lot of those Covenant bastards," said another voice. Sergeant Johnson appeared beside Cortana. "Good to see you back awake, uhh, what do I call you?"

"Huh?" Xander asked.

"Well, you a marine or what?" Johnson said. "And if so, what rank?"

"Just go with Xander for now, Sergeant," Xander decided. "Thanks for the rescue."

"Happy to oblige," Johnson replied.

"How long have I been out?" Xander asked, sitting up gingerly.

"Easy," Cortana cautioned, "You've been in a coma for a week. Try not to move too much, you were burned pretty badly. Most of it is in the final stages of healing, but try not to move around too much for another couple of days."

"How bad was I burned?" Xander questioned.

"I had to replace more than thirty percent of your skin," Cortana replied. "However, I am happy to report that the scarring will be quite minimal, only one scar."

Xander lifted his shirt and looked at the place where his armour had been pierced. There was a three-inch long scar over his left kidney. "What about my armour?" He said.

Cortana stepped aside to reveal the charred remains of the suit. "Still a work in progress. I should have it up and running again in another few days. In the mean time, I'm prescribing at least another day of rest before you start moving around." Cortana pushed Xander back down lightly. "I'll tell your friends that you're awake," She promised.

A couple of hours later, Buffy, Giles, Willow, Oz and Cordelia showed up. "Xander, it's good to see you awake again," Giles greeted.

"Hey guys," Xander said, sitting up in his bed. "How's everything been around here?"

"Xander, we need to talk," Buffy said. She eyed up the Marines standing nearby. "In private."

Cortana provided the answer. "Sergeant Johnson, I need some supplies from the Pelican to repair the armour. Would you mind grabbing them for me?"

"Anything for a lady," Johnson replied with a smile, then grabbed Corporal Monetti and Corpsman Danton and headed to the Warthog. Petty Officers Mendez and Winters were already there, running through some flying simulations.

Buffy waited until they left, then turned back to Xander. "Listen, we have a few things we need to talk about. First of all, the Marines don't know anything about what happens in Sunnydale."

"What? Why?" Xander asked.

"Because I didn't want to tell them," Buffy replied simply. "I left it to you. BUT, there are a few issues. I don't want them to know about me being a Slayer, at least not from you. I'll tell them when I'm ready. Also, I don't want them going out to try and hunt vamps and demons every night."

"Buffy, you're being ridiculous," Xander chided. "Marines can take care of themselves, and as for the Slayer thing, who would they tell?"

"Xander," Buffy said sternly. "Are you going to keep my secret or not?"

"I will, but I think you're making a mistake, and I certainly won't be able to hide all the things in this town from them." Xander replied. He sighed and eased back. "So what else is new?"

"I'm a werewolf," Oz stated.

"We blew up the Judge," Willow added.

"So, pretty much a normal week on the Hellmouth?" Xander asked.

"More or less," Buffy replied.

Xander grew serious again. "Guys, listen. While I was in my coma, I had a couple of dreams. My mo- Doctor Halsey, the creator of the Spartans came to visit me. Then later, someone named Whistler stopped by. He told me that I'd messed up the balance and that Covenant bad guys were going to start showing up more often. It felt really real."

"Xander, I'm sure it was just a dream," Cortana said.

"I don't think so," Xander argued. "This felt really, really real. He told me that the Powers That Be decided to let me wake up from the coma, on the condition that I owed them a favour."

Giles paled. "He mentioned the Powers That Be? Dear lord."

"What?" Buffy asked.

"The Powers are higher beings," Giles explained. "If this Whistler was really working for them, then-" alarms began going off seemingly from mid-air.

"Oh damn, not again!" Xander said. "My armour isn't ready!" He jumped out of bed and looked at the map of Sunnydale on the wall that showed where the breach was. This one was just a few blocks away, in the industrial district. Xander quickly threw on a pair of loose fitting pants and a light jacket, then looked around. Finding what he was looking for, Xander grabbed a small purple wristband that had been taken from one of the dead Jackals.

Xander strapped it to his wrist and pressed a button on it, and immediately a yellowish, shimmering shield appeared. Satisfied, Xander pressed the other button on it and the shield disappeared. He moved over, grabbing the white bar that also sat on the table of Covenant weapons, then grabbed an SMG and strapped it to his leg. He turned around. "The Marines aren't here, so it'll be up to you guys to help me," he said. "Grab a gun and let's go. Cortana, tell the Marines where to meet us."

* * *

Xander lay on his stomach on the roof on a one story, abandoned garage. Beside him, Buffy was doing the same, while Giles and Oz were back further, crouched down. Buffy had grabbed a sword and, at Xander's insistence, an SMG. Giles had taken a battle rifle, which he seemed surprisingly adept at loading. Oz had taken a magnum and a plasma pistol, while Willow and Cordelia had elected to stay out of the battle. They had remained at the warehouse.

Below Xander stood several grunts, and two Elites, one of which carried an energy sword. "This should be no problem," he said quietly.

"Maybe you're forgetting that you're not wearing your armour!" Buffy hissed back. "Not to mention the fact that you're not at full strength. You just came out of a coma, remember?"

"If we do this right none of that will matter," Xander insisted. "Giles and Oz will provide covering fire, taking out the grunts. I'll take the Elite with the sword, Buffy you take the one with the rifle. He'll be shooting at this roof, which is why you'll sneak up behind him," Xander handed her a blue and yellow ball. "This is a plasma grenade. When you push the button it will glow blue and stick once you let go of it. Stick it to his back."

Buffy looked at Xander for a moment, then nodded.

"Good," Xander answered. "The rest of you get ready to fire. Buffy, follow me." Xander backed away from the lip of the roof, then burst into an all out run and jumped off the roof, onto the next building over, Buffy easily followed suit. He ran across that roof, then silently slipped over the side and dropped into an alley behind the Covenant forces. Xander activated his communicator and whispered, "Giles, now!"

Giles and Oz opened fire from the rooftop, immediately killing two of the grunts and scattering the rest. However, after shouts from the two Elites the grunts regrouped and began to return fire at the rooftop. Giles and Oz kept their heads down, but maintained suppressive fire as best they could.

Meanwhile Xander emerged from the alley he was in, activating his shield and his energy sword. "Hey assholes!" He shouted. Immediately both Elites noticed him and roared in rage at the sword he was carrying. The Elite carrying a sword advanced towards him, while the other fired several shots, which Xander used his wrist-mounted shield to block. Giles saw what was happening and fired two bursts into the back of the rifle-bearing Elite to take his attention off Xander.

* * *

Buffy crept slowly down the alley, making absolutely no noise. The Elite with the plasma rifle stood just in front of the alley, firing at Giles and Oz, charring the lip of the roof they hid behind. When she was no more than five feet away, she activated the plasma grenade. The blue sphere immediately lit up the alley, catching the Elite's attention. He whirled around face Buffy.

Buffy fought the urge to recoil in disgust. At more than eight feet tall, the massive alien towered over her on three jointed legs. It had skin the colour of burnt steak, and a hideous mouth that separated into four sections, each with a clump of razor sharp teeth at the end. It roared menacingly, and Buffy threw the grenade, sticking it to his chest. Then she turned and ran to get clear.

The Elite looked down, then roared in anger. Seconds later there was a large blue explosion and the Elite was vaporized by the plasma blast.

* * *

Xander and the remaining Elite had squared off just outside the battle area. Xander deactivated his shield, knowing that the powerful energy sword would likely cut through it in one hit anyway.

He brought the sword up into what felt like a natural guard position. Unlike a normal sword, the energy sword was actually more like two swords that ran parallel, with the hilt being what held them together. The horizontal hilt felt foreign, but strangely comfortable, and because the sword was made of energy, it was extremely light. Xander found that he could move it at unbelievable speed.

Charging forward, Xander lashed out at the Elite, hoping to catch him off guard. The Elite blocked it with his sword, then shoved Xander away, throwing him off balance. The Elite rushed forward, and raised his sword high, bringing it down in an overhead slash. Xander, who was precariously close to falling over, simply let himself fall backwards. The sword sliced the air where he had been just a second before. Xander rolled away, and as he did so, lashed out at the Elite with his sword. It hit the shield and knocked it out, but failed to do any damage. The Elite kicked Xander in the side as hard as it could. The blow actually lifted Xander off the ground and sent him flying four feet back into the wall, which he bounced off before landing roughly on the ground.

Xander stood up groggily, watching as the Elite advanced on him. He brought his sword up, but in his now twice weakened state when he tried to strike the Elite, the powerful alien knocked it out of his hand. The Elite used its' free hand to pin Xander to the wall by his throat. It hissed, opening all four sections of its mouth wide. It pulled back its' sword and…

Xander was shocked when out of the blackness of the Elite's throat came the silvery tip of a sword. The sword protruded out from its' mouth and stopped just inches from Xander's face. The Elite looked down at the sword sticking from its' mouth in surprise, then choked and dropped to the ground, dying. Behind the fallen Elite stood Buffy, still holding the hilt of the sword that she had shoved through the back of the alien's head. "Does this mean I get his glowing sword thingy?" Buffy asked hopefully.

Xander let out a weak laugh then dropped to the ground. "Take it," he rasped. "And thanks."

"Yay!" she said gleefully, snatching the white bar out of the dead Elite's grasp. Her eyes gleamed at the sight of it. "I can't wait to see the expression on the face of the first demon I pull this on."

Seconds later Xander heard the screeching of tires, and looked up to see the Warthog parked in the middle of the now dead group of Covenant.

Johnson looked at the ground around him in dismay. "Hey!" He shouted to Xander. "Who the hell said you could start the party without me?"

"Sorry Sarge," Xander replied. "We couldn't wait."

"Just ain't right," Johnson grumbled. "The civvies get to shoot up the aliens, and we run errands for Cortana? I oughta kick her purple ass."

"Relax Sarge, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of these guys real soon," Xander said. "While you're out here, why don't you help us clean up?"

A few hundred feet away, out of sight of the Marines and Scoobies, a small, greenish grey blob with tentacles crawled across the road and dropped into an open sewer.

End chap 8 

**Hope you liked that chapter, and yes I left you hanging again! Bwahahaha (please leave a review)**


	8. Infections and Infidels

**Wow a good amount of reviews this chapter. Thanks to: Tommy Byrn, Rogue1615, JA Baker, The Sithspawn, Stcobb, YoraththeWolf, Darklight, Anime-Ronin, Dogbertcarroll, Sepharih, Duo, Dracowar, Xman, Aynot, Shawn Provoncha, Jade eye's, WBH21C, Mountain King, Jeap, and a very special thank you to SithelfJen, who thought enough of my story to add it to her C2 group. Now, for the questions.**

**JA Baker: Yes, you will see the Arbiter eventually, but not for a while.**

**YoraththeWolf: I just think that Buffy would be unlikely to trust people who dropped form another dimension with every scrap of information they had, especially a gung-ho marine type.**

**Anime-Ronin: Well, I have to keep suspense. As for the Initiative, you will see them, but not for some time. Keep in mind they aren't operating in Xander's second year of high school.**

**Aynot: the Covenant are a hierarchal group of aliens who are basically a genocidal death cult, though they don't know they're a death cult. Their whole religion is based around Halo, which the forerunners built. What they don't know is that Halo is actually a device designed to eradicate all living matter in the galaxy, which is the only way to contain the Flood en mass.**

**Jeap: Keep in mind Cortana is still trying to keep a low profile. Patenting 25th century technology would raise an eyebrow or two, and there are quieter ways to get it. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised to see some new technologies come out of Sunnydale.**

**By the way beta-readers where are you guys? I sent both of you this chapter like a week ago. Sorry to release it before your feedback but I've had a while to go over it, so I think it will be ok. I'll send oyu the next one as soon as it is done.**

**Anyways that's it so on with the chapter!**

**Chapter 8**

The Fyarl demon trudged through the Sunnydale sewer system, looking for the exit that another demon had told him about. It confused him greatly, Sunnydale had many tunnels, and it was easy to get lost. Ahead of him he saw a light green glow, coming from the ceiling. The demon turned the corner, and saw a very curious creature crawling along the ceiling. It glowed faintly in the darkness, and seemed to be some kind of sack with tentacles. Deciding it would be no use in finding his way out, the Fyarl demon turned around.

Immediately the Flood infection form leaped, attaching itself to the demon's back. It began feeding on its' new host, and the demon bellowed in rage and pain. Seconds later the large demon fell to the damp ground, growing still and the Flood infection form began the slow task of transforming its' host into something truly horrible.

* * *

Buffy walked into Willy's and took a seat at the far end of the bar. The demons sitting at the table looked at the girl for a second, then turned back to their drinks. Seconds later Willy walked towards Buffy. "Hey, Slayer!" He greeted loudly. Several of the patrons left quickly. "What can I do for you tonight?"

"I want to know what you've heard about Angelus," Buffy said coldly. "I know he must be planning something."

Willy looked around, then leaned forward. "Look, I wish I had something to tell you, but I honestly don't. There's something going on in the sewers, and no one's paying attention to anything but that right now."

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

"Well, there are stories floating around about some kind of parasite. Last night a vampire stumbled on a Fyarl demon lying on the ground. There was something latched on to it, and it was, I don't know, mutating it or something," Willy explained.

Buffy's blood ran cold. One of the first things Xander had briefed her on was the Flood. Buffy immediately turned and jogged out of the bar, calling Xander on her communicator. "Xander, I think we might have a big problem," She said.

* * *

Xander, resting in his warehouse, listened to what Buffy was saying, but he only really heard one word; Flood. Immediately he turned to Cortana, who was busy working on the ongoing repairs to Xander's armour. "You hear that?" He asked.

"The armour's not ready yet," Cortana cautioned. "A lot of the protective layers are still damaged, and the shields are only working at 43 capacity, and I won't be able to come with you, the suit's AI slot has been partially corrupted."

"It will have to do. You know how fast the Flood can spread," Xander decided. He moved and took the still blackened armour and began to get dressed. "Tell Johnson, Monetti and Danton to suit up," He ordered. "Get one of them to bring a flamethrower. We'll need shotguns too, and at least one SMG."

* * *

The Fyarl demon, now a Flood carrier form, lumbered into a room, filled with a pack of human size demons that were tearing apart a wolf that had wandered into the storm sewer. The eight grey demons turned turned, snarling to the tan sack on legs. In stumbled towards them, then fell over, and exploded, knocking all onto their backs. Before any of them could get up, a Flood infection form latched onto each one and began mutating their bodies into the zombie-like Flood Warrior forms, save for one, which was transforming into a Flood Carrier form.

* * *

Xander dropped into the sewer, quickly scanning the darkness of the tunnel with his shotgun, which had a light attached to it. Behind him, Johnson, Danton and Monetti clambered down the access ladder that Xander had ignored. The three of them took up positions for covering fire behind Xander. Johnson carried an SMG, Monetti was holding a flamethrower that Cortana had thrown together for such an occasion, and Danton carried a second shotgun. Xander had told Buffy to stay out of the sewers, warning her that the Marines would be suspicious of her activities. In reality, Xander didn't want anyone to come, the Flood were simply too dangerous. But at least the Marines had experience.

Xander advanced forward, keeping his shotgun at the ready. Behind him, the Marines fanned out, checking all angles and side tunnels as they passed them. Xander held up a fist and the Marines behind him froze. Xander's artificially enhanced hearing allowed him to hear rapid footsteps from a side tunnel twenty feet ahead. Xander took up position beside it, his back against the wall, and waited. Three seconds later the footsteps reached the mouth of the tunnel. Xander spun out and grabbed the figure, then slammed it roughly against the wall of the tunnel. The vampire, game face on, looked at him with frightened yellow eyes.

"What were you running from?" Xander asked, all business.

"Uhh, I don't know," the vampire replied. "Demons? Mutants? I couldn't tell. Whatever they were, they don't care what they kill."

"Where?" Xander snapped.

"That way," the vampire said, pointing down the tunnel he had come from. "Third tunnel on the right," He looked at the Marines behind Xander, then at Xander's gold visor. "Who are you guys?"

"The exterminators," Xander replied. "Now get out of here before I add you to the, 'to kill' list." He tossed the vampire back three feet. It immediately took off.

"What was wrong with his face?" Johnson asked.

"We'll talk about it later," Xander said. "For now, we've got to take out the Flood before it spreads." The foursome hurried down the tunnel, following the directions of the vampire. They turned at the third tunnel down the right and emerged into a larger chamber. Inside, were twenty-one Flood warrior forms of various sizes and three Flood carrier forms, all turning to face them.

"Son of a bitch," Johnson said quietly.

"Christ they've only been here for like four hours!" Monetti exclaimed.

Xander lobbed a grenade into the back of the room, an action followed quickly by the others. "Fire!" He shouted.

Xander took aim and unloaded at the nearest warrior form. The warrior form, only fifteen feet away, took nearly all the buckshot in the torso and head and went down. Meanwhile, the grenades exploded. The shrapnel blasted outwards, obliterating two of the carrier forms, which released their cargo of infection forms, as well killing another four warrior forms.

Beside Xander, Johnson blasted away with his SMG, sending a shower of bullets that popped the numerous infection forms, but did little to the warrior forms. "Come get some you goddamn zombie bastards!" he shouted.

Danton repeatedly pounded away at the horde with his own shotgun, but the fear was clear on his face.

"There's too many of them!" he shouted.

"Stow it, Corpsman!" Johnson shouted. "Keep firing!"

Corporal Monetti fired off jets of flame, setting fire to the fallen zombies. They burned quickly, bursting into flames as though their bodies were filled with grease. They bubbled and turned black as the fire raged away at them and turned them to harmless ash.

A warrior form leaped forward, landing directly in front of Xander. It lashed out, whipping its' claw like hands along Xander's shield. To Xander's surprise, the shield burst. He fired off his shotgun, blasting the warrior form back. Xander kept an eye on his shield bar, watching as it very slowly crawled back up to full strength. Damn, he thought, Cortana hadn't been kidding. He cautiously moved forwards, blasting shell after shell into warrior forms until the shotgun ran empty.

Xander dropped his empty shotgun and pulled two pistols from holsters on his belt. He took quick but careful aim and fired several shots, making short work of the remaining four Warrior forms. The last carrier form fell, exploding and releasing its' infections forms. Monetti twisted a dial on the flamethrower and squeezed the trigger, releasing a large ball of flame rather than a precise jet. The last of the infection forms popped as the flame touched them.

"Torch the whole room!" Xander ordered.

Monetti spun around, setting fire to everything that would burn. The air quickly grew scorching hot, forcing the Marines out of the room. "Everyone alright?" Johnson asked.

"Yes sir!" Danton and Monetti replied.

"Nice job guys," Xander said, patting each of them. "That was way too close. If we hadn't found out about this, they could have infested half the town in a day."

"Speaking of that, how did you find out about this?" Johnson asked. "And what was that thing you grabbed in the tunnel?"

"Yeah, well," Xander scratched the back of his helmet. "See, there are some things about this town that we may have neglected to mention."

"And what would these things be?" Johnson asked, the edge in his voice clearly audible.

"Well, there are some things in this reality that may not exist in yours," Xander explained.

"Like what?" Monetti asked.

"Uhh, vampires and demons," Xander said quietly.

Johnson looked at him sternly. "Are you shitting me, son?" He asked.

"No, no this is the truth," Xander replied.

"I see," Johnson growled. "So vampires and demons exist in this reality. Bloodsucking monsters that prey on the living, and you and your friends felt that the best thing to do would be to keep this from us?"

Xander winced. "Look, it's not like we didn't trust you, but we wanted to ease you into this world, you know, let you adjust before we dump the hard facts on you."

"What in god's name are you taking about!" Monetti burst out. "Were you even IN that room back there?"

"He's right, Harris," Johnson added, speaking sternly. "We are marines, we deal in cold, hard facts 24/7."

"Yeah, but not like this," Xander insisted. "Look, we weren't going to keep you in the dark forever, but we had to decide on the best way to approach this subject. We can't have you running around the town shooting at every demon you see, it just doesn't work that way."

"So you don't trust us, then," Johnson replied.

"I do," Xander replied sharply. "But thanks to the Master Chief, I know you, and I've only been awake a few hours. None of my friends do. Look, put yourselves in their shoes. They are pretty much the only group of people who even have an idea of what happens in this town. Then a group of people they've never met drop in to the town from another dimension. If they haven't told the people who live here their whole lives, what are the odds they'll tell complete strangers?"

Johnson considered that, then looked back at the two other marines, who shrugged. "Okay, I see your point," Johnson conceded.

"Buffy left the decision on what to tell you up to me, so I'm going to tell you the whole truth. But, I don't want you going out to fight vampires by yourself, you'll just get yourself killed," Xander explained. "We'll talk about it more tonight."

* * *

Xander was explaining the finer points of fighting vampires when Buffy and the Scoobies walked into the warehouse. Xander fell silent as the Marines glared angrily at the group in front of them.

"Uh, hi?" Buffy said cautiously.

Johnson stood up from the couch he was on and advanced on Buffy. "Our boy Harris told us all about what goes on in this town," He declared. "You've got a lot of nerve keeping that from us, makes me think you don't trust us."

"Maybe I don't," Buffy said, holding her ground. "I don't know you, or any of your people. Why would I trust you?"

"Xander trusts us."

"Xander couldn't exactly give us his opinion!" Buffy snapped back. "He was in a coma until this morning, if you recall."

Johnson stuck his face close to Buffy. "Do not keep things from me or my people. Marines don't like to be left in the dark."

"Then maybe you shouldn't be trying to fight vampires," Buffy retorted.

"Will the two of you stop it already?" Cortana said exasperatedly. "You both have some valid points, but since neither of you are going anywhere for the time being and we all have to work together, can we try to get along?"

Buffy and Johnson glared at each other, but both nodded. Johnson stuck out his hand. "I am pissed off, but I'm willing to let it go as long as you promise not to keep us out of the loop."

Buffy considered this, then looked at the Scoobies behind her. Willow smiled and Oz nodded, but Giles gave her a pointed look. She turned back to Johnson. "I'm entitled to have my own secrets," She said cautiously. "But, I won't keep you out of the loop on one condition. You have to listen to my friends and me when it comes to demons. We may not be Marines, but we know what we're doing."

Johnson nodded. "Fine, fine. But you try and order us around and you've got another thing coming."

Buffy just smirked in reply.

* * *

Warren sat at the lunch table coldly observing the lunchroom. Though his efforts had been thwarted he was confident that if he could only identify who the Spartan was, he could eliminate him. The doors to the cafeteria swung open and Warren's head snapped up. Xander, Willow and Buffy walked in, smiling and chatting. Warren's eyes narrowed as he looked them over. Neither Buffy nor Willow had the height, but Xander was a possibility. He did look like he had more muscle than before the Halloween incident, but it was hard to tell because Warren had never really spent any time around Xander.

After a moment, Warren decided to check for any clues hidden in his student record. The transformation into a Spartan would certainly have had an effect on his grades.

* * *

Warren growled as he looked over Xander's record. His grades had dramatically jumped in every subject right around the start of November. There was little doubt in Warren's mind that Xander was the Spartan. With a quick check to the DMV, Warren located Xander's address, a warehouse in the industrial district. Turning to another computer on a closed circuit, Warren issued orders to five of his remaining Elite-bots to destroy Xander, and anyone else in his warehouse.

Smirking, Warren looked over his orders and punched the send button. There was a lot of evidence that Xander was the Spartan, but if not it didn't matter. Just another infidel destroyed for the glory of the Covenant.

* * *

"Oh come on!" Mendez shouted at no one in particular. The group had sat down to watch a movie as a bonding activity, and Mendez and Winters had, as pilots, picked Top Gun. "Like that would ever really work!"

"It wouldn't?" Buffy pouted. "But I liked that part."

"Hit the brakes and he'll fly right by?" Winters snorted. "No, aerial overshoots don't work."

"More like hit the brakes and he'll blow me out of the sky," Mendez agreed. "In a dogfight speed is life."

"Stop being so critical!" Xander complained. "Just sit back and enjoy the extreme cheesiness that is Top Gun."

Cortana materialized out of thin air beside Xander. "We have a problem," she hissed. Beside her an image from a surveillance camera popped up in the air beside her. It showed an Elite crouched on the roof of a building adjacent to Xander's. In its hands was a blocky, unfinished looking plasma weapon that identified it as an Elite-bot.

"Shit, those sons of bitches don't give up do they!" Johnson exclaimed.

"Those aren't real Elites, Sarge," Xander explained. "Someone in town is making Elite shaped robots. I think they're here to kill me specifically.

A section of the wall began to glow orange. "They'll be through in seconds," Cortana warned. "You'll have to do this fight without your armour, Xander."

"Damnit, that's becoming a theme for me!" Xander sighed and grabbed an SMG, tossing weapons to everyone.

Willow paled as she caught the pistol Xander tossed her. "You want me to shoot this?" She asked.

"Just try to stay back out of the way," Xander ordered. "Use it to defend yourself only, don't go looking for a fight."

Buffy pulled the energy sword from her pocket and grinned. "Man I have been waiting for a chance to use this!"

"Buffy, be careful," Xander warned. "I am serious here, if you get hit by a bullet or a plasma burst…" He trailed off, allowing her to digest it.

"I know," She said, nodding. "I will."

A second later the hole in the wall grew even redder, than what was left of the bricks simply crumbled away, leaving a gaping hole. Every Marine, pilot, and Spartan trained their weapons on the hole, but nothing stepped through. Seconds later the room as rocked by a large blast, and through a new hole in the roof an Elite-bot dropped, landing gracefully right in front of Mendez and Winters, who had taken cover behind a desk. With frightening speed the Elite-bot shoved its' weapon into Winters stomach and fired.

Petty Officer Winters screamed in agony as the plasma burned through her intestines. As she screamed, a blast of blue flame erupted from her mouth as the plasma found its' way into her oesophagus.

"You son of a bitch!" Mendez screamed, sending a stream of SMG bullets into the Elite-bot. They tore through the robot's armour and damaged its' internals, but did little to slow it down. Finally a lucky round hit something critical and shut down the robot, but it was too late. Winters was dead. Her blackened torso smoked as she dropped to the floor.

Xander had no time to mourn her death as two more Elites rushed through the hole in the wall. Johnson, Xander and Monetti poured SMG and battle rifle fire into it, slowing it down but not stopping it. The Elite raised its weapon and fired at Johnson and Monetti, causing them to duck down behind a desk. Xander continued to fire, finally doing enough damage that the robot shut down and dropped to the floor.

The other Elite, who had flanked the group, raised its' weapon and prepared to fire on Xander. However, in a flash of light the arm was chopped off. Buffy stepped in front of the robot and drove the energy sword deep into its' armoured chest. The Kevlar and metal armour gave way easily, and Buffy quickly gutted the Elite-bot.

"Is everyone alright?" Xander asked.

"Winters is dead!" Mendez exclaimed. "They killed her!"

A scream from Xander's bedroom drew the attention of the group. Danton, who was right by the door, opened it and threw himself into the room. Willow was in the corner, the two remaining Elite-bots towering over her. She raised her pistol, but Danton shouted, "Hey! Come get me you fuckers!" The Elites snapped around and fired, advancing on Danton. He was in the doorway, and had nowhere to go. Both shots hit him, but he gritted his teeth and did not so much as whimper. As soon as they were far enough from Willow, Danton raised his shotgun and fired, hitting an Elite with every piece of buckshot in the shell. It flew backwards, sparking.

With one arm, Danton re-cocked the gun and took aim, ignoring the blast of plasma that was already travelling towards him. He fired again, this time hitting the remaining Elite in the waist. The shot nearly bisected the Elite-bot. It fell to the ground, still functional but unable to stand up. Danton fell to the ground as well, gasping in short breaths.

Xander rushed into the room and with all his strength, kicked the weapon out of the Elite's hand. He wrenched the arm as well, and Xander could hear the servo stress and break. He knelt down beside Danton, who was panting in unnaturally short breaths now.

"I got em, sir," He said between breaths.

"You did, son," Johnson said, stepping over Danton. "You fought good."

"For a medic?" Danton asked with a pained smile.

"For a Marine," Johnson said seriously.

"You didn't have to do that," Xander said. "Thank you for saving her."

"Semper Fi, sir," Danton said, then his breathing got shorter, and slower, then finally, it stopped.

"Semper Fi, Corpsman," Xander replied

"What does Semper Fi mean?" Buffy asked.

"Forever faithful," Johnson said quietly. "It means forever faithful."

**End chap 8**

**Hope you guys liked the chapter, sorry for the long time to update. You know how school is, with the work, and the crap they make you do, and the stuff… you know what I mean. Anyways thanks for reading and please leave a review!**


	9. After Death

**Thanks to: YoraththeWolf, Stcobb, Duo, Bigstu, Anime-Ronin, Hazard 13, SgtGronard, JEAP, Suzuka Blade (and Draconomaru?), StrawberryChild, Terris1, and SailorLady.**

**And thanks to my Beta Readers too. Now, for the questions:**

**Bigstu: Well, the Covenant isn't exactly what you would call reasonable. I'd say they'd blast him just like anyone else.**

**Suzuka Blade: One of the things that makes the Halo franchise good, in my opinion, is the willingness to kill off well liked and even important characters. Sorry, but such is war.**

**StrawberryChild: I have mentioned Red vs Blue a couple of times, and I might just have plans to make a chapter too…**

**Terris1: Well, his options were rather limited. I may not have made it clear enough, but Whistler was supposed to make it clear that the choices were play ball or die.**

**SailorLady: Hmm, crush on the Arbiter. That's a new one. The only thing he brings to mind for me is Requiem For A Dream; the voice of the Arbiter played Angel (ironic isn't it?). As for your questions, well, you'll just have to wait and see :)**

**They say quality over quantity, so there's my justification for this rather short chapter. Anyways on with the story!**

**Chapter 9**

Xander looked down at the two bodies that sat on parallel tables, covered by sheets. There was a cold look on his face, one mirrored by Johnson and Monetti. It was the look of someone who was ready to kill. It was a look that Buffy had only seen once before, the look he gave her when Giles, Willow and Cordelia had been captured and Xander warned Buffy he would kill her if Willow was hurt. It scared her a little.

After a moment's silence looking over the bodies, Xander spun around. "It's time to stop whoever's doing this."

"How do we find them?" Buffy asked.

"Easy," Xander replied. He turned to face the heavily damaged robot that lay tied down to another table. "He's going to tell us."

"You can't interrogate a robot, Xander," Willow said.

"You're right, I can't," Xander replied. "Fortunately, we have someone who can. Cortana, can we rig up an interface?"

"Already on it," Cortana said, appearing beside him. "Shouldn't be too hard, I'll have it ready within the hour. I should warn you though, this robot is probably sentient, or at least close. It might not be as easy as just copying the information we need."

"Do whatever you have to do, Cortana." Xander replied. "I don't care if you have to tear his code apart line by line, you find out who sent him."

* * *

"You ready, Cortana?" Johnson asked. 

Cortana nodded. "Jack me in."

Johnson plugged the Elite-bot into the interface they had created, and Cortana felt a new pathway open up to her. She was quite surprised to find that it was larger than she had expected. She piggybacked herself onto another signal and flew deep into the center of the robot's "brain."

Cortana was shocked by what she found. The surprisingly complex and partially aware program that controlled the robot was still, essentially, a slave system. "It's a hive mind," she remarked to no one in particular, "fascinating."

Unfortunately, that made her job even harder. She had to get the information without being detected by the other five programs, which would be difficult, because since it was a hive system all minds would share all information. Cortana marveled at the simple brilliance of the system. Whatever one of the robots learned, they all learned. It was a very efficient way to enhance the learning curve of the soldiers.

Cortana puzzled over the idea of how to access the information undetected for a few milliseconds, then came up with a simple solution. Jamming all outgoing communications from the captured Elite for a nanosecond, Cortana quickly erased a portion of its core programming and "dropped into the driver's seat," as it were.

"Just like putting on camouflage, damn I'm good." Cortana said to herself. Quickly she absorbed all the information that was relevant, and was taken aback by surprising depth of the programming. In fact, they rivaled some of the so called, "dumb AI's" that preceded Cortana. Though dumb AI's were far from dumb, their intelligence and capacity to grow was limited to specific fields, in this case, combat. The depth of the programming also surprised her. In fact the Elite, though partially dissected, was still trying to reestablish control and warn the others.

"Sorry buddy, not going to happen," Cortana murmured. She ripped apart the Elite's brain in a fraction of a second, fast enough that to the others it would simply appear that he went offline. Cortana then carried herself and her precious cargo of information out of the system and back into the safety of her own mainframe. She materialized in the warehouse again and smiled. "Got it. Name is Warren Meers, I have his address and picture. Should we go take care of him?"

Xander looked to Johnson, who nodded gravely. "First things first, we have a funeral to arrange."

* * *

Near the cave where the Pelican lay in hiding, Sergeant Johnson, Corporal Monetti, Petty Officer Mendez and Xander Harris stood at attention over two caskets. The Marines and Mendez wore their dress military uniforms, which they had because they had come straight from the medal ceremony aboard the Super-MAC platform, while Xander stood in his newly polished MJOLNIR armour. Beside them, Buffy, Giles, Willow, Oz and Cordelia sat in chairs with solemn expressions on their faces. Despite the lack of a trumpet, the Navy and Marine soldiers had The Last Post playing in their heads. At the sound of jet engines, the four soldiers looked skyward to see four model jets flying over in formation, controlled by Cortana. As they passed over the casket, one plane pulled skyward, heading for the heavens. 

As the missing man formation passed, Xander and Johnson tri-folded the flag from Winter's casket. Johnson solemnly handed it to Mendez, then returned to Danton's casket and helped Xander fold that flag. This time Xander took it, then walked to Willow. She looked at him in surprise.

"It seems only fitting," Xander said quietly.

Willow nodded, then took the flag slowly, fingering the edges of the blue material and looking at the partially visible UNSC crest.

Xander moved in front of the caskets. "This is a sad day, but one that I hope will bring us closer together. Petty Officer Winters and Corpsman Danton died protecting all of us, not just Marines, not just Scoobies. Though they will be missed, I hope their deaths will bring us together as one group united to fighting not just the Covenant or demons, but all forms of evil."

Buffy and Johnson looked at each other and nodded.

"Semper fi soldiers, may you rest in peace." Monetti said.

Johnson and Xander lowered Danton's casket into the Earth, while Monetti and Mendez did the same for Winter's.

"Now," Xander said, "let's make sure Warren never does this to anyone again."

* * *

"My guess is he has surveillance over the area around the house." Cortana said, looking at the holographic image of the house she had. 

"How?" Xander asked. "Isn't this his parent's house?"

"His parents have been missing since Halloween," Cortana replied. "Either something happened to them that night or he killed them himself."

"So he has surveillance, big deal," Johnson snorted. "We just have to go in guns blazing."

"No, it might give him the chance to get away," Xander said thoughtfully. "What do you think are the odds that he has surveillance above his house?"

"Unlikely, cameras would be visible on the roof," Cortana said. "Why?"

"I just got a crazy idea." Xander smiled.

* * *

The Pelican hovered silently in the night, concealed by clouds. Xander was in the back in his armour, along with Johnson and Buffy. 

"You sure you got the math right on this Cortana?" Xander asked.

"WHAT!" Cortana asked, appalled. "Did you just question my calculations?"

"Okay, sorry. Jeez," Xander said.

"Run through this one more time," Buffy said.

"Mendez will descend to ninety seven feet, then I'm going to jump out of the back of the Pelican," Xander explained. "Accounting for the weight of the armour, the acceleration will be enough to punch me through the roof and both floors of the house to the basement, which is most likely where Warren is."

"Xander, this is a stupid plan," Buffy said. "You're going in blind, and the fall could hurt you."

"That's why you and Johnson are going to come in through the front door right after. Surveillance won't matter at that point, Warren will be busy with me." Xander stood and moved to the back of the Pelican. He pushed a button and the ramp at the back of the ship began to lower. "Let's do this!" Xander shouted to Mendez.

Immediately the whine of the engines became quieter and the ship began to drop out of the sky.

* * *

Down the street, Angelus watched in surprise as the ship dropped and leveled over a house. He was even more surprised when Xander jumped from the back of it and punched through the roof. "This I have to see," Angelus said with a wicked smile.

* * *

The ship came to a hover and Xander took a breath and stepped off the back ramp, curling himself into a cannonball. His shields flared as he punched through the roof of the house, which barely slowed him. He observed a bedroom quickly before hitting the floor and punching through it as well. Lastly he fell into a TV room that looked as though it hadn't been used in a while. He hit the ground and stopped, but then heard a creak and the floor gave way, dumping him unceremoniously into the basement. 

Xander quickly got to his feet and drew his pistols. Across the cluttered room, Warren stared up from his computer in surprise. Quickly he turned to another computer and began to furiously type instructions. Xander raised his weapons and fired, destroying the computer with a couple of well placed hits. Silently he advanced on Warren, who was sneering at him.

"Die, abomination!" He shouted, raising a plasma weapon from his desk. He fired, draining Xander's shields a little but doing no damage. Xander holstered his pistols, advanced forward and grabbed the weapon out of Warren's hand, throwing it violently across the room. He backhanded Warren, knocking him into the wall behind him. "That was for Winters," He said simply.

Xander grabbed Warren and lifted him off the ground like a toy. He drew back and punched him in the chest, breaking ribs and causing Warren to roar in pain. "That was for Danton," He said. Then Xander tossed Warren to the floor. He turned, grabbed the energy sword he had brought and ignited it, staring at the remaining five Elite-bots that stood at attention along the wall in charging berths. With a few quick motions he cut them apart, making sure to destroy the heads. Xander put away the sword and swung around to find Warren scrambling out of a basement window. Xander bounded up the stairs of the basement, drawing his pistols as he went. A surprised Buffy and Sergeant Johnson jumped out of the way as he passed them, running for the back door.

Xander didn't even slow down, he smashed through the plate glass sliding door and spun on his heel, turned ninety degrees to face Warren with his pistol drawn. Warren was running for the fence that separated his yard from his neighbors. Xander took aim, hesitated for a full second, and fired. The bullet flew forward, hitting Warren in the back. The impact threw Warren off his feet, sending him tumbling to the ground. He lay there unmoving, but Xander could still hear him breathing. His breathing however, was getting shorter and shorter.

"Xander, no!" Buffy shouted as she emerged from the smashed door and saw the scene in front of her. Johnson looked at Warren's prone form and nodded.

Xander ignored Buffy. He turned and walked back towards the opening he had made in the house.

Buffy shoved him when he tried to walk past. "Xander, what the hell! You just killed him, he was a human!"

"He was a threat," Xander replied. "He killed Winters and Danton."

"You shot him in the back!" Buffy shouted, pointing. "You murdered him!"

"It wasn't murder," Xander said quietly, pushing past. "I was just taking out the trash."

* * *

Warren lay on his lawn, panting. He could feel his body shutting down, but he knew that he was still a ways off from death. He could also feel the presence of a figure standing over him. "Leave me be, human scum," Warren said without looking up, "I will die a noble death." 

"Die?" Angelus asked, laughing. "Oh no, you piss tin man off way too much for me to just let you die." With that, Angelus knelt down and bit into Warren's neck.

* * *

Xander had been aware of Buffy's harsh glare for the duration of the walk home. Once he had finally gotten into the warehouse, he led her into his room and closed the door, then turned to face her. "It had to be done, Buffy," he said in a determined voice. 

"Xander, you killed a human being, you shot him in the back!" Buffy replied, letting a little anger into her voice.

"He killed Winters and Danton, not to mention all the soldiers and sailors on the Patrick Henry and that Army base!" Xander shouted back. Buffy took a step back. Xander had neglected to remove his armour, and made for an imposing figure when he wanted to. "Would you even think for one second about staking a vampire in the back? No, he is a threat so you take him out. Just because Warren was human doesn't make him any less evil. Do you think I like the idea of killing another human? That I was looking forward to it?"

"YES!" Buffy yelled at him. "You killed him for revenge and you know it!"

"What?" Xander asked.

"You could have shot him in the leg, or just caught him and knocked him down," Buffy accused. "We could have taken him to the police, they would have put him away."

Xander was about to reply, but stopped and thought about it. He removed his helmet and looked Buffy in the eye. The pain in his eyes surprised her. "You're right Buffy, I could have shot him in the leg, taken him to the police. But here's the question, would you disable a vampire or a demon, then take it to the police? This is a different war, and like it or not I am the law in this war. I have to make the tough decisions because the Earth isn't ready to see this kind of thing." Xander stepped towards Buffy and looked her right in the eye. "But let me make one thing clear, I do NOT enjoy killing people. You think I wanted this? You think I asked for this? I just wanted a cool Halloween costume."

Buffy softened as she listened to him.

"I thought you'd understand," he said, nodding at her expression. "Same as you I do this because it has to be done. I killed Warren because it had to be done, not for revenge or any other reason." Xander sat down on a sturdy chair and set his helmet down beside him. "I keep replaying it in my mind, watching him fly forward and hit the ground. It's easier when they're aliens. They look like monsters so it's easier to make your mind think they need to be killed. With Warren, I almost didn't do it. It was so hard to pull the trigger for a second I though my suit had broken. But… it had to be done."

Xander and Buffy sat quietly for a while after that, neither saying a thing but both of them understanding each other much more than before.

* * *

Angelus walked into the crypt and was met by a wailing Drusilla. Spike looked on from his wheelchair. "She's been like this for an hour or so now," he said, rolling his eyes. 

Drusilla stopped wailing and looked at Angelus vehemently. "Angel made a new friend. I don't like his new friend."

"But you haven't met me," Warren said, stepping into the room grinning evilly.

"Oh bloody hell Angelus did you go get a stray?" Spike asked. He looked Warren over and snorted. "If you wanted a new lackey you could certainly have done better than this wanker."

"He makes Kitten very angry," Drusilla stated. Her eyes rolled back. "He is machine and nerve and has his mind concluded, but this one is but flesh and faith and is the more deluded…" she said in a singsong voice.

"Speaking of deluded," Spike muttered.

"Let's just say he pisses Harris off, and that's enough reason for me to like him," Angel said.

Warren drew a slug from his pocket. It was still red with his blood. He examined it and grinned, then closed his fist around it. "Harris will pay for what he tried to do to me," he stated, finishing inwardly, 'and then I will burn these infidels for the glory of the Covenant.'

Drusilla gave him an angry look. "I don't like our new friend." She said, pouting.

**End chap 9**

**Well, short chapter but fear not, hopefully I will have another one out before Monday or early in the week. Anyways thanks for reading and please leave a review!**


	10. Marching Orders

** Okay, this chapter was obviously a long time coming (Christ, about a year). I do apologize for the extremely long down time. Between school and a serious case of writer's block I had this story on the back burner for a long time, probably longer than was healthy for the story but I'm going to continue writing and see. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and even e-mailed me to ask whether or not the story was going to be continued. I always appreciate feedback, even of a critical nature and I would love to hear any feedback you have about this long awaited chapter. So without further ado her we go.**

**Chapter 10**

Xander, Johnson and Monetti stood on the edge of Sunnydale's largest graveyard. Larger than any of the parks in Sunnydale, it was almost a square mile in size and it was not possible for one to see from one end to the other, especially in the night.

"So we sure we got the coordinates of the breach right?" Monetti asked. "It's right in the middle of that graveyard?" He shuddered.

"What's the matter, Monetti, you want your momma?" Johnson teased.

"Sorry sir," Monetti replied. "But going into a giant graveyard, on a full moon, in a world where vampires are real, well that's just really creepy." The three men looked down as a jet-black cat walked down the sidewalk, crossing in front of them.

"Okay, even I gotta admit that's creepy." Johnson said, staring down at the cat.

Xander hopped over the iron fence surrounding the cemetery and Johnson and Monetti followed. They moved quietly across the grounds, taking basic cover positions behind headstones and covering each other as they advanced. Suddenly Xander held up a fist, causing the Marines to freeze. With night vision activated, Xander could make out six figures in the distance. Three held the profile of Elites, and the other three were huge, bulky creatures. Though big, they weren't as large as Hunters, which led Xander to conclude that they must be the newest members of the Covenant; Brutes.

Xander had never seen as Brute, but he remembered the Master Chief's brutal wrestling match with one aboard the _Unyielding Hierophant_, the giant Covenant command center that Master Chief had destroyed on the way home from the Halo incident. Xander, or Master Chief rather, remembered just how strong and tough Brutes were. Johnson and Monetti would be torn apart if they got too close.

"Stay back a ways," Xander whispered. "Focus your fields of fire on the big ones, chest and up. Any hit below that won't even slow them down."

Xander advanced, as silent and invisible as a ghost, to within just ten yards of the group, who were arguing amongst each other rather heatedly. Thanks to what Cortana had learned while inside the systems of the Covenant flagship they had captured, Xander could understand much of the conversation.

"The Sangheili are the guardians of the prophets! We are one of the founding races of the Covenant! You will take orders from us!" One of the Elites shouted.

"And follow you fools to our deaths? I think not!" The largest of the Brutes retorted angrily. "The Jiralhanae will soon replace the Sangheili as the guardians! Your time is over."

"Then why is the new Arbiter a Sangheili?" Another Elite asked. "Jiralhanae are all muscle, with nothing but empty space in their skulls!"

"You dare insult me?" The Jiralhanae bellowed. "I will tear you limb from limb!"

The hulking Brute advanced on the Elite, but the lead Elite stepped between him and his target and ignited his sword. "Touch him and you will not live to see the great journey," the Elite threatened.

Immediately both sides drew their weapons, instantly entering a heated stand-off.

"What the hell is going on?" Johnson whispered.

"The Brutes and Elites hate each other," Xander replied. "Just lay low, let's see how this plays out."

To anyone but Xander, it would have been difficult to see who fired the first shot. Xander's excellent eyes, reflexes and armour allowed him to see that one of the Brute's fired the first shot by less then half a second. The air was suddenly thick with fire as plasma rounds and grenades filled the small space between the two sides. In such close quarters, the two sides effectively blew each other apart. The explosive rounds from the Brute shots tore through the Elites quickly enough, but shrapnel flew back at the Brutes as well and in the space of a few seconds all the Elites and two of the Brutes were dead, with the one Brute who remained standing badly injured.

Xander carefully lined up a shot and pumped a three round burst into the head of the Brute, dropping it quickly.

"Damn, that was easy," Johnson said.

"This is awesome!" Monetti said excitedly. "They're killing each other here, maybe their doing it back home too! It could be the turning point or this war."

"Mmm-mm. Just imagine, the Covenant collapsing into civil war." Johnson smiled. "Just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside."

Xander held his tongue. Because of the sensitive nature of many of his missions, he was one of the few who really knew how close the Covenant was to wiping out humanity. A civil war within the Covenant might buy them time, but it was by no means a guaranteed victory. "Let's get rid of these bodies and snag the weapons, we'll talk to Cortana when we get back to base," He decided.

As the group began cleaning up none of them noticed the Covenant datapad that had fallen behind a tombstone, nor the lone vampire that had observed the entire encounter from afar.

* * *

"A civil war?" Cortana mused. "It is possible, our limited intelligence seems to suggest a rift between the Brutes and Elites, but I would still be inclined to suggest that this is simply an isolated incident."

"Christ! We've got to find a way to get back!" Monetti said angrily.

"On that I may have made some progress, maybe," Cortana said. "I've scoured all human knowledge for any information on dimensional gateways of any kind. On several occasions I found references to some kind of dimensional mirror. It's sketchy, but its come up a few times so I think it might be worth looking into."

"Any idea where to start?" Xander asked.

Cortana shook her head. "Like I said it was just a few references, and I have no idea if they are at all credible. But at the very least it's a starting direction. I'll keep you updated on any breakthroughs I might happen to make. In the mean time let's just focus on the here and now, okay?"

Xander nodded. "Buffy is still pretty sure Angelus is up to something, and I don't disagree. Ms. Calender says she's close to translating the writings to return his soul though."

Johnson shook his head. "God DAMN! What the hell is wrong with this reality? Vampires exist, and not only that, returning their friggin soul is an option?"

"Sarge, in case you forgot, in your reality a conglomerate of religious aliens are trying to wipe out humanity," Buffy commented wryly as she entered the warehouse. "You guys find anything interesting tonight?"

"Yeah a group of Brutes and Elites blew each other away," Monetti replied. "It was awesome."

"That's a good thing?" Buffy asked.

Xander shrugged. "Well, it did save us the trouble of having to do it, plus it's a sign of discord throughout the Covenant, or so we hope. What about you?"

Buffy shuddered. "Angelus left me a drawing… of me sleeping."

"Yikes," Xander replied. "Should we start standing guard or something?"

"No, he's just trying to mess with my head. Giles says we can cast a spell to keep him out of the house, but it gives me the wiggins." Buffy said. She reached into her purse and extracted a small piece of metal. "Cortana here's that dealy you asked me to pick up. What's this for, anyway?"

Cortana plucked the piece of metal out of Buffy's hand and smiled. "You'll see when it's done. I guarantee you'll all be very surprised."

* * *

To anyone else on planet Earth, the datapad that the Elite dropped would have been indecipherable and completely useless. However, to the person who found it, namely Warren Meers, it was a treasure trove of Covenant gathered information about dimensional gateways. He scrolled through the information in awe, coming to realize that in his hand he held his ticket, hell, probably the only ticket on Earth back to what he now thought of as his home. He grinned wickedly and started putting together a list of materials he would require.

* * *

Xander walked into the library to see a beautiful woman leaning on the round table that he had so often sat at to do research. Despite her shapely curves, sexy v-cut business suit and relaxed posture the most striking thing about her was her shoulder length hair, which was almost vibrantly purple. 

"Hi, there Miss. Can I help… Holy Crap it's Cortana." Xander said in a state of shock. Standing in front of him was what appeared to be the completely human amalgamation of Cortana.

Cortana flashed him a smile, showing her white teeth. "Hey Xander, I take it you're surprised?"

"Just a smidge," Xander replied. "Uhh, how is this possible?"

Cortana smiled again and pointed to the purse that sat on the table. "I scaled down a version of the holographic emitter and put it in the purse. I have to stay within 30 feet of it at all times, but since I'm solid I can carry it around so there you go, mobile holo-emitter."

"And the whole, you know, not being translucent and purple thing?" Xander asked.

"Well I can't very well walk around looking like that," Cortana said exasperatedly. She straightened her hair and looked at her reflection in a window. "I made some adjustments to my avatar."

"Is this what the thing Buffy brought you was?" Xander questioned.

Cortana nodded. "Mmm-hm. That was the last piece of the power cell I needed. It was a pain getting my hands on plutonium, let me tell you."

"Hold on just one second, are you telling me you're walking around with a NUCLEAR PURSE!" Xander said loudly.

Cortana pouted. "It's just cold fusion, relax. If it was dangerous I wouldn't have built it."

"Obviously we have differing opinions on the meaning of the term dangerous," Xander replied, though he was not particularly angry. Cortana was probably, as usual, right.

Buffy entered the library, staring in surprise. "Whoa, Cortana, what are you doing here? And why do you look all normal?"

"She invented a mobile holo-emitter, so she can walk around anywhere now." Xander explained.

"Yeah. I love technology." Cortana said with a smile.

"You are technology." Buffy said, one eyebrow raised.

"Semantics," Cortana said with shrug. "I did come here for a reason other than to show off my latest invention though."

"Showing off a little more than that," Buffy muttered.

Cortana silenced Buffy with a glare, then continued. "Among other things, I wanted to mention that Warren has been listed as missing, which I thought odd considering you shot him an left him dead in his backyard."

Xander looked up sharply. "Oh hell, you gotta be kidding me. He was dead, or as good as dead anyway, I severed his spine."

Buffy looked at Xander with a surprisingly apologetic gaze. "Actually, I might be able to explain that for you." She pulled an object wrapped in cloth and handed it to Xander. "Angelus left it for me with a note that said to give it to the tin man, which I'm guessing is you."

Xander took the cloth and unwrapped it, finding a bullet stained red with dried blood. He stared at it quietly for a moment. "This is the bullet I put in his back. That son of a bitch is still alive!"

"Well, not really alive, just not dead." Buffy added.

"God damn it! What happened to the good old days when bad guys stayed dead?" Xander asked. "How come you don't have this problem Buffy?"

Buffy shrugged. "Almost happened that one time when they tried to resurrect the Master, but I smashed his bones into dust. I guess I'm just more thorough."

"So since Angelus sent you the bullet, I guess it's a safe bet that Warren has been turned." Cortana said, idly playing with her hair. "Looks like we might be looking at combined patrols."

Xander sighed. "Yeah, I guess that's probably the way to go. Any other depressing news?"

Cortana pursed her lips. "I didn't want to be the one to break it to the Marines, but as far as I can tell there is no way to get back to their dimension. Not technologically at least."

"What about that mirror you mentioned before?" Xander asked.

Cortana shook her head. "Not an option, even if it does exist the simple fact that there are an infinite number of universes would make it next to impossible to find ours, you could look for decades and never find it. There may be some magical way to do it but I wouldn't be the person to ask."

Xander sighed and sat down. "The Marines are not going to be happy about this."

"I would suggest not telling them that all hope is lost just yet." Xander and Buffy turned to see Giles standing at the doors. "A friend of mine in London has been gracious enough to send me a copy of a very old text containing a large amount of information on dimensional gateways. It should be here by the end of the week."

"Well, that's something at least." Xander said. "In the mean time I don't think we should tell them anything, I don't want to get their hopes up, or destroy them for that matter. Let's do our best to figure out what Angelus, and now Warren I guess, are up to."

* * *

Over the next few weeks the Scoobies and Marines patrolled together, usually as one large group. The usual goings on of the Hellmouth kept Buffy, Giles and Willow busy, while Xander concentrated on training with the Marines, only helping Buffy when he had time or it was really busy. Buffy killed an invisible demon at the hospital that preyed on children, and stopped a ghost from committing a murder at the school. The biggest, and saddest event, was when Angelus killed Ms. Calender. With Buffy and Xander both on patrol, no one was there to help her. With her dead, the Scoobies resigned themselves to the fact that they would have to kill Angelus to stop him. 

One week after Jenny's death, an event of epic proportions for one group in Sunnydale occurred; the release of Halo 2.

Xander arrived home from school to find the Marines and Cortana standing around the TV, with a copy of Halo 2 lying on the table beside an Xbox.

Johnson looked at Xander. "We thought we'd give you first dibs on playing it, you being a Spartan and all."

Xander shook his head. "It's not my reality. Tell you what Sarge, let's you and me play co-op."

Johnson grinned. "Hell yeah, that's the answer I was looking for."

"You know," Cortana mused, "I could just tell you all the relevant information without you having to play the game at all."

"And miss out on killing hundreds or even thousands of virtual Covenant bad guys?" Johnson asked. "Cortana, sometimes you just take all the fun out of everything. Harris, let's do this." Xander and Johnson dropped onto the couch, with Monetti and Mendez pulling up armchairs to watch.

* * *

Angelus, Spike, Drusilla and Warren stood around the statue of Acathla, ostensibly admiring it. Suddenly, Drusilla's eyes widened and she stared at Warren. "The bad one is having unpleasant thoughts!" 

"Dru, seriously, that doesn't even tell us who you're talking about!" Spike said. "I'm going to assume you mean Angelus' wanker, but only because you don't like him. You're in a room of vampires, we're all bad!"

Angelus, Spike and Drusilla left, Drusilla still shooting looks at Warren as he continued to look at the statue. After waiting a moment for them to leave, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the datapad, re-reading the information to verify it. He looked back up at the statue and grinned. "This should work. Oh, Angelus won't you be in for a surprise."

* * *

Xander stared at the screen in shock as the credits rolled. "That, that was half a game! What the hell kind of ending is that!" 

"How was that even possible?" Mendez asked. "Johnson was there with Keyes in the game, and he helped the Arbiter beat Tartarus, how can he do that if he's here?"

"And how the hell can we have formed an Alliance with the Elites?" Johnson asked angrily.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Cortana replied. "I have a couple of theories on what we've just seen."

"Big shock." Xander said, rolling his eyes.

Cortana ignored him and continued. "What we've just seen could be one of two things. Firstly, we must understand that there are an infinite number of realities, and therefore an infinite number of possibilities. What we just saw could be from a reality similar to our own, but not exactly the same, which would explain why Johnson was there. The other possibility is that what we've seen is, well, the future."

The room was silent for a moment, and Cortana continued. "I have no idea how time in our reality compares to time in this one. Johnson, you were there for the first part of the assault, but then you don't appear until significantly later in the game. Maybe that amount of time has not yet passed here, so we could be seeing what will happen."

"So then, we might still find a way home?" Monetti asked.

"I honestly don't know, but after all we've seen, I'd say anything's possible." Cortana replied.

* * *

Xander dreamed of the white room again that night, and Whistler was waiting for him when he work up there. 

"Hey kid, how ya doing?" Whistler asked.

"Better before I woke up here," Xander replied warily. "What do you want?"

"Well, the Powers have decided to call in that favour we need sooner than they thought." Whistler said, shrugging. "Originally this was going to be a test for the Slayer, but since then the situation has turned into a real snafu, so we're turning it over to you."

Xander rolled his eyes. "Hooray."

Whistler looked seriously at Xander. "Look kid, I'll level with you. This is an all or nothing test. You pass, you get a break, the holes in the dimensions are closed, you get to come back here and forget about fighting any more Covenant baddies, but let's just say you aren't the odds on favourite for this one. If this was a military mission, it would be the kind where you get medals, but they mail them to your family along with a letter that starts, 'we regret to inform you', you get me?"

"So there sending me on a suicide mission? What the hell? I thought they didn't want to, 'lose their chess piece' or some crap like that!" Xander yelled.

"You aren't the first and you won't be the last," Whistler replied. "Sometimes you have to sacrifice a piece for the greater good. And I'm not saying you'll die for sure, just that there's a very good chance."

"And what if I say no?" Xander asked defiantly.

"Then everyone on Earth dies a horrible death, including your friends." Whistler answered calmly. "Pretty sure you don't want that on your head."

"Has anyone every told you that they hate you?" Xander asked.

"You'd be surprised how much I get that," Whistler replied with a wry smile. "Look, the long and short of it is you're getting sent on a trip, along with your Marine buddies, if they're still around when the time comes. I'm only allowed to tell you that this was supposed to be a test for Buffy, but this while dimensional thing has messed it all up."

"So whatever happens is gonna be around her, and probably more demon related than alien related?" Xander asked.

Whistler shrugged. "If that's how you want to read it, that's your business, I'm not allowed to say any more."

"Can you tell me when, or how?" Xander asked.

"Soon, and just trust me, you'll know it when you see it, unless you're a lot dumber than the Powers are counting on." Whistler said. "Remember what I said, you do this and you're off the hook, no more Covenant on Earth to counter the balance. I gotta go, take care."

"Yeah, thanks a lot." Xander replied sarcastically.

"Oh!" Whistler said, snapping his fingers and spinning around. "I almost forgot. Right around the time of your little errand, Buffy is gonna do something that she doesn't need to anymore, what with the test being for you now. If you can figure it out and stop her, bonus points for you."

Xander woke up and rubbed his face, then looked at the bedside clock. Seeing that it was still four in the morning, he dropped back into bed and contemplated the fact that someone, or something he had never met, had decided it was time for him to ive his life for a cause he didn't even understand.

**End chap 10**

**Hope you guys liked it, I promise I'll get back to more regular updates now that I am done school. Thanks for reading and please leave a review!**


	11. Road Trip?

**I'll be honest, this was my hump chapter. It's been a long time since I saw any of season 2 of Buffy and I had a tough time figuring out how this should all go down, hence the long update time. However I think I did a reasonably good job and I've got the next few chapters planned out, so they should go a bit quicker. Thanks to everyone who left a review for the last chapter.**

**Anyways, on with the story!**

**Chapter 11**

Xander, with Johnson, Mendez, and Monetti looked at the glowing green portal ahead of them. The huge swirling vortex was now large enough to drive a tank through, and was a mix of small red streak and an angry, almost glowing green.

"You know," Xander said with some dismay, "when I woke up this morning this was not how I imagined my day would go."

"What, the part about the huge inter-dimensional portal, or the part where you side-swiped that parked car?" Cortana asked lightly from his head.

"That was totally not my fault! He did not check before opening his door!" Xander yelled back.

Buffy and Angel walked over to the group. "So what do we do?" Buffy asked.

Xander looked to the corner of the room and saw Whistler. He nodded and gave Xander a two-finger salute, then turned and walked out.

'Yep,' thought Xander. 'Not at all what I imagined.'

* * *

Xander walked into the library that morning to see Giles talking on the phone.

"Yes, yes I understand. Thank you." He set down the phone and looked at Xander. "I just received word that the curator of the museum is dead, and the artifact has been stolen."

"Do we know who it was?" Xander asked.

"No, they have no idea, but from the information supplied by Kendra and her Watcher, we can say with some conviction that it was Acathlta."

Kendra and her Watcher had arrived the day before, forcing Xander to take precautions to avoid being found out as a Spartan. He had serious concerns about doing so, especially after Whistler's warning. "What is Acathla?" Xander asked warily.

Giles tooked off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Acathla was a demon, who could suck the world into Hell, or at least a Hell dimension, with a breath. Fortunately before he could complete his task, a knight ran him through with his sword, killing him. However if the sword is removed, he will complete his task."

"Giles, I think something else is going to happen here. Last night I got-" Before he could finish explaining, Kendra and Buffy walked through the doors of the library. Giles shot Xander a meaningful look and he fell silent, cursing his luck.

"I just got a message from a vampire," Buffy announced. "I'm going to meet Angel tonight, we're going to end this once and for all."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Giles asked. "This could be a trap, in fact it most likely is."

"Yes, but if I don't go, what if he kills someone. Giles, I have to go, he's made sure I don't really have a choice." Buffy replied.

Kendra turned to her. "Take my lucky stake," she said, handing a sharp, dark piece of wood to Buffy. "I call it Mr. Pointy."

Buffy took the stake, feeling it out. "Nice weight, and thanks." She nodded to Kendra and was gone.

* * *

Xander, Giles and Kendra stood guard as Willow, with the help of Oz and Cordelia, attempted the spell to return Angel's soul, which had been found the day before. Xander, with only a sword in hand and a stake in his belt, felt woefully unprepared. Mentally berating himself, he realized that he had come to rely a little too much on his armour, on his weapons. He remembered a time, or the Chief remembered a time, at least, when they'd had no shields, when their suits were bulkier and did little to protect them from anything more than a glancing blast from a plasma rifle. Still, he couldn't help feeling unprotected.

Kendra was looking more alert than before. "Vampires!" She called in her accented tone. Seconds later the doors to the library were thrown open by several vampires who walked in. Meanwhile several more came from behind, perhaps having crawled through windows. Angelus must have warned them about Xander, because five vampires jumped him, effectively forcing him away from the rest of the fight.

Xander spun, slashing away in a controlled frenzy, but he knew it was going to take too long. Too late they'd realized that the trap wasn't for Buffy, it was for them. He ducked under a swing by a vampire and swung his sword, hacking off the vampire's leg at the knee. Before it had even finished falling backwards, Xander had staked it and rolled away from a kick aimed for his kidneys. He got to his feet but the three remaining vampires pushed him back, forcing him further away from the fight. Over their heads he could see that Willow had taken a nasty hit to the head and Kendra was a busy as himself. He continued to blunt the attacks of the three vampires, but could gain no ground while all three were on the offensive.

Quickly all three stopped and looked at each other. "Angelus was hoping we'd find you without your armour," this middle one said, "but just in case he gave us these." The three vampires all whipped plasma pistols scrounged from Covenant battles. The middle vampire grinned. "Seems a shame not to use them."

Xander stared them down while idly fiddling with something under his shirt on his wrist. Without warning he launched himself backwards into the stacks. As the vampires fired he activated the energy shield salvaged from a Jackal, catching two of the blasts as a third one went over him. He could feel the searing heat from the blast as it passed over, then impacted on the wall behind him. He rolled to his feet and dove sideways as another volley of green plasma flew past him. Getting up, Xander reached into his cargo pants and retrieved his energy sword. He activated it as a vampire came around the corner. With no assistance from Xander, the blades sprung forth and caught the unfortunate vampire in the neck, neatly decapitating him.

As quietly as he could, Xander took a step back towards the stack, then turned around. In a very Sam Fisheresque move, he jumped, vaulting himself off the back wall toward the stack. He landed on top of it, carefully balancing so as not to knock it over. From his vantage point, Xander could see both vampires looking for him one stack over. Judging the distance carefully, Xander jumped, flipping over the stack in between them. He dove head first, using the vampires to break his fall, and knocking them all to the ground. He then again ignited the sword and quickly slashed apart both vamps. Then, hiding his weapons and hoping no one had noticed the plasma blasts or the sword, he ran back to the main area of the library.

He arrived just in time to see Drusilla finish draining Kendra, while two other vampires dragged Giles out the door. Willow and Oz were both slumped on the floor, though Oz appeared to still be conscious. Cordelia was nowhere to be seen.

Drusilla dropped the now dead Kendra and licked the blood from her lips, then turned to face Xander. She paled immediately, then in a way very unlike her, turned and ran for the doors without making a sound. Xander started to run after her, but then stopped. He pressed the button for Cortana and she appeared as a small hologram.

"Xander, what is it?" She asked.

"I need you to track the car that's about to leave the school. I don't care if you have to hack a satellite, make it happen!" Xander ordered.

"Xander, someone is going to notice this, there's no way around that." Cortana warned.

"Fine, it's gotta be done. Tell Johnson, Mendez and Monetti to suit up, I have a bad feeling about this." Xander replied.

"Done. And be careful, the police are on their way to the school." Cortana's avatar vanished.

Buffy burst through the doors of the library, and took in the scene in shock. Xander quickly grabbed her and dragged her out of the library. "We gotta get out of here," he explained, "the cops are on their way, they'll take care of this."

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

"We got jumped. A few vamps separated me from the fight, an Drusilla killed Kendra. They've got Giles, I think they're gonna get him to tell them how to open the portal." Xander got to the parking lot and got into the 240sx he had bought, or rather Cortana had bought. Just as the two of them were leaving the parking lot, flashing lights and sirens made their way towards the school.

"Cortana's tracking the car they took Giles in, but she's probably brought more heat down on herself by doing so. Governments tend to notice when one of their satellite's gets borrowed." Xander screeched to a stop in front of Buffy's house. "Get what you need and head to my warehouse."

Buffy nodded and got out. Before she could say anything Xander was driving away. Buffy turned around and almost walked headlong into Spike. She tried to hit him but he grabbed her arm and stopped her, then put up his hands in surrender. "Now now, none of that. Look, I'm just here to talk."

* * *

Xander pulled into the garage and jumped out of the car and ran into the warehouse proper. He stripped off his pants and shirt and went to the armour storage area. As he was getting into the legs, Cortana appeared in human form, followed by the Marines.

"What's the situation?" Johnson asked, all business.

Xander looked at him and smiled grimly. "Sarge, I have this gut feeling that you'll be going home today." He slid the torso of the suit over top of him and locked in into place. "I had a visit from someone last night, told me we'd be going on a little trip and that it would have something to do with Buffy. Well, her ex-boyfriend is trying to suck the world into a hell dimension and one of his minions is an insane Covenant zealot. If this isn't our cue I don't know what is."

Cortana fuzzed for a moment. "I just spoke with Buffy. She went to see Willow at the hospital."

"How's she doing?" Xander asked, picking up his battle rifle and inserting a clip.

"She's unconscious, and if she doesn't wake up soon she may slip into a coma. Oz has some fractured ribs, but he'll be fine."

"Willow will pull through, she's tougher than people think." Xander said. "You know where they took Giles."

Cortana nodded. "He's in a mansion on the outskirts of town."

"Alright then, let's pick up Buffy and go kick some ass." Xander said loudly, feeling far less confident than he sounded.

* * *

Buffy turned around at the sound of screeching rubber and saw the monstrous Warthog coming to a stop behind her. Rather than a gun, extra seats were mounted in the back. Buffy hopped up and took the last of the three seats. Xander punched the gas and they were off.

"You okay Buffy?" Mendez asked, seeing the down look on the Slayer's face.

"I had a fight with my mom, she found out I was the Slayer." Buffy replied quietly. "She told me if I walked out the door not to come back. And now I'm off to kill my ex-boyfriend before he ends the world. I've had better days."

Xander turned partially around. "Buffy, if you need to you can stay at my warehouse. You can get through this, and we'll help you anyway we can."

Xander screeched hard around a corner. Just ahead of him, a man was just opening his door after parking his car. Unable to avoid it, the Warthog slammed into the door, tearing it off then car and sending it skittering down the road.

"XANDER!" Cortana shouted. "Stop with the heart to heart and watch the damn road."

"Oh come on he shoulda checked before opening his door!" Xander replied as the other four occupants of the truck chuckled.

"We need to stop at the school!" Buffy said loudly over the roar of the wind. "I need a sword from the library."

Xander nodded and swerved at the appropriate intersection.

"I'll get it," Cortana said. "My purse is in there so I can just appear and walk out."

Cortana beamed out of Xander's head and, after using embedded sensors in the purse to make sure the room was empty, materialized in the library. As she headed over to the cabinet in which the sword was stored, the doors to the library swung open and Snyder walked in. He stopped cold when he saw Cortana.

"Who are you?" He demanded. "What are you doing here, I demand to know who you are."

Increasing the strength and rigidity of her hologram to maximum, Cortana closed the distance between herself and Snyder and punched him in the face. Snyder fell backwards and smacked his head on the floor, knocking himself out.

Cortana smiled. 'Damn that felt good.' She thought.

As the Warthog pulled up to the school, Cortana jogged out the main doors. She put her purse on the floor, handed the sword to Buffy, and vanished back into Xander's head.

"Everything cool?" Xander asked.

"I might possibly have punched out Snyder." She replied coolly.

"Oh that is just not fair!" Buffy and Xander complained in tandem.

* * *

Having extracted the necessary information from Giles, Angelus stood ready to complete the ritual and awaken Acathla. Up until now the plan had gone well, but he had expected that the Slayer might show up, so he was not particularly surprised when Buffy walked into the mansion. He was however surprised when Buffy walked into the mansion along with Xander, one pilot, and two marines all holding large guns. Still, a good tactician makes contingency plans for every occurrence and as such was ready for this possibility. On the balcony floor above him, several vampires including Warren Meers drew and aimed assorted Covenant weapons, training them on the group at the front door.

"You know, we really should have done a better job of cleaning up after battles." Monetti said wryly, aiming his battle rifle back.

Johnson glared at him. "I seem to recall Cortana assigning that task to you, slacker."

"Take care of tin man and the Marines, leave Buffy to me!" Angelus shouted.

The vampires started firing, forcing the Marines to find cover. Xander remained in the open, buying them time as the vamps focused their fire on him, quickly draining his shields. Xander dove away at the last second before his shields failed. In front of him he could see that Spike had attacked Angelus, but was driven off by Drusilla. Now Angelus and Buffy were squaring off, seemingly oblivious to everything else in the room. However, it seemed that somewhere in that time Angelus had found time to complete the ritual, as the sword was gone from Acathla.

Xander fired a burst into the chest of a vampire, but it did little more than slow him down. "I have an idea! Keep them from moving." Cortana ordered over the radio, then she was gone. Laying down a field of rifle and SMG fire, the Marines and Xander prevented the vampires from doing anything other than taking potshots at them. Unnoticed by the vampires, Cortana walked in the main doors. She hefted the Jackhammer she was carrying onto he shoulder and fired, launching a rocket right into the vampire's firing position. The rocket flew through to air and impacted the railing in front of the vampires, detonating. Three of the vamps were incinerated while another was decapitated by debris. Only Warren survived, but the floor under him collapsed and he was dropped unceremoniously to the story below.

"Guys, get Giles!" Xander ordered, moving forward and grabbing Warren. He lifted him by his neck, but Warren only grinned back at him.

"You're too late, infidel. The portal has been opened and this planet, then this galaxy will be cleansed!" Xander looked behind him to see that the portal was opening, but something was wrong with it. It was red, but a small, glowing green was spreading inward from the edges.

"You and your kind will be burned off the face of this world, and all worlds. The glory of the Covenant is everlasting." Warren hissed.

Xander stared coldly at him. "You stupid son of a bitch," Xander tossed Warren to the ground and grabbed the energy sword. "Did you even play Halo? There is no Great Journey! The Halos just wipe out all life! Are you so stupid that even peering in from the outside you can't see that?"

Before Warren could reply, Xander brought down the sword, severing his head. He turned around to see Angelus stagger, then look around in confusion. He turned and saw Giles approaching with Johnson supporting him. "His blood," Giles said weakly, "his blood is the key to closing the portal."

Xander's eyes widened and he turned in time to see Buffy tell Angel to close his eyes. "Buffy NO!" He shouted, stopping her. "It won't work, Warren did something to the portal, it's not going to suck us into hell, or at least the one it's supposed to."

Buffy lowered her sword, a look of enternal gratitude on her face.

* * *

Xander, with Johnson, Mendez, and Monetti looked at the glowing green portal ahead of them. The huge swirling vortex was now large enough to drive a tank through, and was a mix of small red streak and an angry, almost glowing green.

"You know," Xander said with some dismay, "when I woke up this morning this was not how I imagined my day would go."

"What, the part about the huge inter-dimensional portal, or the part where you side-swiped that parked car?" Cortana asked lightly from his head.

"That was totally not my fault! He did not check before opening his door!" Xander yelled back.

Buffy and Angel walked over to the group. "So what do we do?" Buffy asked.

Xander looked to the corner of the room and saw Whistler. He nodded and gave Xander a two-finger salute, then turned and walked out.

"You either go home or to my warehouse. Patch things up with your mom, check up on Willow." Xander replied. "I, apparently, go on a road trip this summer." He turned to Angel. "Look, I don't like you, but what happened wasn't your fault. That said, if this happens again I will not hesitate to kill you. Am I clear?"

"Perfectly." Angel replied, nodding.

"You, in my head," Xander pointed at Cortana. "Everyone else, lock and load."

"Xander, you don't have to do this." Buffy pleaded. "We need you here."

"Buffy, I am begging you, put that in writing and send it to the Powers That Be." Xander joked. "I'll come back, I promise."

With that, Xander, two Marines and one pilot walked forward into the widening portal. They were sucked into it, and it started to quickly shrink. After a few seconds it had disappeared completely, leaving only Angel and Buffy standing in the wrecked mansion. They stood there, watching the place where Xander had disappeared for a while in silence, the only sound coming from the wind whistling through the broken windows.

* * *

Perhaps it had to do with the relative mass of each of the soldiers, or perhaps it was simply part of the PTBs plan, but none of them appeared in the same place, or even at the same time. Mendez appeared first, at a hangar in New Zanzibar. Smiling at being dropped in her element, she ran for the nearest Longsword fighter, strapped herself in, and took off to join the fight.

Monetti also appeared on Earth, but he appeared twelve hours later and thousands of miles away near Toronto, Canada. However he was able to call for a pickup, claiming his ship was shot down. He too soon joined the battle.

Sergeant Johnson appeared aboard Commander Keyes ship as it was reaching the second Halo. No one seemed to notice that he had simply appeared, or they chose to ignore it.

Xander however did not appear until much later. In fact, he did not appear until very close to what was the end of Halo 2. And so it was that when Master Chief John 117 beamed aboard to Forerunner ship just as it was disconnecting from High Charity, he came face to face with a very short Spartan that he did not recognize as one of his own.

* * *

Xander felt a weird spinning sensation as he entered the portal. There was a bright flash of green light that blinded him for a second. When his head and his vision cleared he was standing in some kind of corridor, and there was a very large shotgun leveled at his face, which was being held in the hands of a very menacing Master Chief.

'Welcome to Hell, Xander, welcome to Hell.' He thought to himself.

**End chap 11**

**Hope everyone liked the chapter. I hope to have the next one up a fair bit sooner. Thanks for reading and please leave a review!**


	12. New Partners

**Thanks to The Sithspawn, Bobboky, Ant Crown, Anime-Ronin, The Insane Immortal Dragon, tdk99992000, WBH21C, APS, sil, and Riye Link Reue for the reviews. I apologize for the long update time. I've been working a fair bit, and I went to Oshkosh for Airventure (btw for anyone interested it was amazing and Shaun Tucker makes all other pilots look like crap) but I think plain old laziness was the main contributing factor here. Anyways again apologies for the wait, and on with the story!**

**Chapter 12**

Master Chief John 117 was tired. He had been fighting for quite literally, almost two days straight. He hadn't slept, hadn't eaten more than one MRE in the past two days, and had just left his friend and one of the best tools at his disposal on a Flood infested Covenant city with the knowledge that he would most likely never see her again. To say he was irked would be a bit of an understatement. Now standing in front of him was a Spartan, one who stood maybe six feet, when the average height was close to or above seven feet. John had been to hell and back with his brothers and sisters in arms and he knew that this was not one of them. Since he knew no ordinary human could wear Mjolnir armour, he came to two possible conclusions. Either this was a Covenant trick to slow him down, or he was beginning to lose his grip on his sanity. Either way, it seemed the best way to solve the problem was with a hot lead injection.

Xander, who had been dumped unceremoniously into unfamiliar surroundings and was still disoriented, did probably the one thing that could have saved his life. He used his thumb and forefinger to make a curved line in front of his visor. Though unrecognizable to most, this was the unofficial Spartan symbol for a smile.

John hesitated, then whistled a short tune.

Xander smiled inside his visor and replied with a short phrase. "Oly oly oxen free."

"All out in the free, we're all free." John added, then lowered his weapon. "Are you a Spartan III?"

"It's more complicated than that." Xander replied. "Let's leave it at I'm a friendly for now."

John hesitated for a second, then nodded almost imperceptibly. "You're here first. Can you give me a sit-rep?"

Xander snapped to a more rigid military posture he remembered from the Chief's training. "As you may have noticed, the Forerunner ship has disengaged from High Charity. It's headed to Earth. It is my belief that on Earth there is some kind of remote activation for the Halos."

"What is this belief based on?" John asked sharply.

"Call it an outside source," Cortana said. "Hello, John."

"Cortana? How?" John asked.

"Let's not get into the details now." Cortana said. "I need access to the ships mainframe. Xander, find a terminal. Chief, I know this is confusing but we need to stop whatever's going on here, I promise we'll answer questions later."

John looked at Xander for a moment, then turned and gestured down the corridor. "Let's move."

Xander and the Chief ran down the corridor, alternately using bulkheads as cover. One would advance while the other provided cover. Though neither soldier had ever actually met each other, they moved with the precision of a well-oiled machine, easily covering each other and matching speeds and actions perfectly. Though they worked very well together, it was a little bit pointless. The vast hall of the ship was empty. Xander guessed that thanks to the Flood infestation of High Charity, a sparse skeleton crew was all that manned the Forerunner ship.

At the end of the large corridor, a door opened into what appeared to be some kind of engineering station. After checking to make sure the room was clear, Xander rushed to the closest terminal and allowed Cortana to upload herself into the computer mainframe. After a second a small avatar appeared in front of Xander and John.

"This is incredible, this ship is so far beyond anything we have, or the Covenant for that matter. We're traveling in Slipspace almost four times faster than our ships are capable of. At this rate we'll reach Earth in under two hours."

"What are they going to do when we get there?" Xander asked.

"I don't know. There's something weird here. This ship has all kinds of systems that aren't complete." Cortana said.

"The ship was never finished?" John asked.

"No that's not what I mean. Whatever this ship is, it's designed to hook up to something much larger. And the power plant for this ship is excessively large, to the point of being bulky. It's almost as though this ship is designed to power another, larger ship." Cortana explained.

"It would explain how the Covenant were able to use it to power their city." Xander mused. "Well, whatever they're doing, it can't be good. How do we stop them?"

Cortana shook her head. "This ship has tight security protocols. It's recognized me as an outsider and is blocking off most key systems. You two will have to fight your way to the bridge and stop them by hand. I'll guide you as best I can. Start of by going through that door on the left. Then follow that hall to the third door on the right. I'll meet you again there."

Xander and John headed out through the door and into the quiet hallway, guns at the ready. Xander was beginning to feel really uneasy. Even with a small crew, they should have seen someone by now. He kept expecting Jackals or Brutes to jump out from behind the doors or bulkheads they passed. If John was in anyway nervous, it did not show in his movements.

The two of them entered the room, which appeared to be some kind of communal cafeteria or rec area. Once again there wasn't a single sign of life, save for the image of Cortana which appeared on a screen along one of the walls.

"Cortana where is everyone?" Xander asked.

"Unfortunately the two of you have been detected." Cortana replied. "The crew has set up several barricades between here and the bridge. They've set them up so that they are completely unavoidable, you'll have to pass a minimum of six to reach the bridge, assuming they don't move when your approach is detected."

"What makes up each barricade?" John asked.

"A minimum of five brutes, at least ten Jackals, and at least two fixed shielding emplacements and one fixed cannon."

Xander winced. "What about other critical areas? Can we hit the engine room?"

Cortana shook her head. "Negative. This ship seems to have all critical areas located right about in the middle. You would have to go through the bridge to get to the engine room."

Xander and the Chief looked at each other. "Only fifteen with cover per barricade?" John asked wryly.

Xander grinned under his helmet. "Piss poor odds for them."

Cortana sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure which one of you is the more crazy."

* * *

Sergeant Johnson could not believe what was happening. At first he thought the Covenant would tear itself apart, but it seemed to only have torn in two. The lines were as clearly drawn as they could be. On one side, you had the Brutes, Jackals and Drones. On the other side, you had the Elites, Grunts, Hunters and most surprisingly, humans. After seeing firsthand what the Halos were going to do, the Elites were astonishingly quick to dispel their beliefs and take up arms alongside the humans they had fought so relentlessly to exterminate.

Currently Sergeant Johnson, along with Commander Keyes and a few marines stood on the bridge of the Covenant ship _Everlasting Light_ along with the Arbiter and several other Elites. The marines looked around nervously, but Johnson was already starting to feel comfortable. He didn't like the Elites by any stretch of the imagination, but he had seen combat with them and nothing builds trust faster than having someone watch your back in a firefight.

The Arbiter turned from the Elite he was conversing with and approached the group of humans. "I have sent the message to all Sangheili controlled ships. They will not fire on human targets and are sending out messages of cease-fire requests."

"Even with the testimony of Sergeant Johnson and myself, I'm not sure how well this will go over." Commander Keyes warned.

"Hopefully the display of Sangheili ships firing on Jiralhanae ships will be testimony enough." The Arbiter replied. "As we speak the fleet is regrouping. The Jiralhanae ships seem to be gathering over an area over one of the continents, Africa I believe you call it."

"Ten to one odds they're running interference for the Forerunner ship." Johnson said.

The Arbiter nodded. "The Ancestors ship is incredibly advanced. It will reach Earth a considerable amount of time before we will. I've told our fleet to do as much as possible to slow it down, but I fear it will not be enough."

"That's okay, the Chief will slow them down." Johnson smiled.

"That's a big assumption, Sergeant." Commander Keyes said. "You're assuming that not only did he survive until now without being infected, but he also somehow managed to make his way onto the Forerunner ship. Then, by himself, he'd have to stop or slow the ship by a few hours."

Johnson harrumphed and looked at the Commander. "Will all due respect Commander, if you think those are long odds, you don't know shit about the Chief."

* * *

Xander ducked behind a bulkhead as an explosion rocked the hallway. Looking across the hallway, he saw John taking a similar action on the other side. He looked at Xander and nodded. The two Spartans each threw a grenade in a perfect arc, flying over the shields set up in the hallway and directly into the crowd of Jackals hunkered behind them. The grenades exploded, ripping apart the Jackals and temporarily knocking out the shields, as well as overturning the gun emplacement.

Seizing the moment of confusion, Xander and John emerged from their cover and opened fire with their battle rifles. Xander ripped into the three remaining Jackals before they could recover, while the Chief traded shots with the three huge Brutes. Two went down with bullets in the brain before they were able to bring their weapons to bear. The last one managed to get a badly aimed shot off with his grenade launcher. He missed both Xander and John, but the resulting concussion spoiled John's aim. Instead of hitting the Brute in the forehead, the triple shot of slugs tore into the Brute's shoulder, causing pain but doing little to slow the monster down.

Xander ran at the Brute and ignited his sword. With ease he quickly dissected the last remaining enemy.

From some kind of PA system, Cortana's voice rang out. "Good job boys, another four barricades to go. Unfortunately, you need to move faster. At this rate we'll reach Earth fourteen minutes before you reach the bridge."

"Isn't there anything you can do to slow them down?" Xander asked, already running down the hall indicated on his HUD.

An audible sigh came from the PA. "Believe me, I'm trying to find a way. The only thing I can think of will take time, and it's risky."

"We don't have a lot of options right now." John pointed out. "Whatever you can do, do it."

"Understood." Cortana replied. "The next barricade is through that set of doors. I've created sensor ghosts heading towards a different barricade so you should have the element of surprise."

Xander and John pressed themselves against the wall on either side of the door. They each primed a grenade.

"On my signal," John said. An acknowledgement light winked on his HUD. He opened the door and the two Spartans threw their grenades, then rolled through the door and came up firing.

* * *

As she watched while Xander and John tore through another barricade, she cursed. She knew they were doing their best but they simply were not going to get to the bridge quickly enough. They fought an uphill battle against an entrenched enemy at every barricade, and although they always won, it always took time. They still had another barricade to go and the ship was nearly in system. Cortana turned to her last ditch effort to slow the ship down. Although she couldn't access the Slipspace drive, she did have access to the thrusters. Like human ships, this Forerunner ship had emergency thrusters, two chemicals that were hypergolic, meaning that when they were mixed they immediately exploded, creating a huge force that could move the ship substantially. The UNSC ships had made regular use of them to avoid plasma blasts from Covenant ships.

Although regular thrusters would do next to nothing at the relative velocities of Slipspace, the emergency thrusters should have sufficient power to change the direction of the ship. Cortana was also hoping that the explosion would also disrupt the Slipspace field. However, it was possible that the stresses of changing attitude at that velocity could damage or destroy the ship. She checked the clock, noting that they were less than a minute away from Earth Orbit. Hacking into the system, she fired only the rearmost thrusters.

* * *

Xander and John were about to reach the sixth and final barricade to the bridge when Cortana said, "Chief, Xander, brace yourselves."

Suddenly the deck lurched sideways and began to tilt. Xander and John pressed up against a wall and waited.

The explosion of the emergency thrusters threw the ship sideways and slightly off axis. As the rear started to swing out, Cortana fired the foremost thrusters on the opposite, accelerated the drift and spinning the ship nearly sideways. The entire ship groaned as the stress of moving such a massive object at such a quick acceleration put a massive shearing load on the ship. After traveling sideways for a second or two, the fragile Slipspace field around the ship collapsed, and the Forerunner ship was dumped unceremoniously back into normal space, just beyond the orbit of Pluto.

"That's all I can do." Cortana reported to the Spartans. "It will take them a few more minutes to figure out what went wrong and repair the small damage done to the Slipspace engine, then they'll jump again. Go. Now."

Xander and John didn't need to be told more than once. They took off towards the last barricade, which was still in disarray thanks to the proverbial e-brake Cortana had pulled. The now overturned Shade turret had crushed two of the Jackals, while another was trapped inside the thing. The Jackals were attempting to help their comrades, while the final five Brutes that stood between the Spartans and the bridge stood tall and ready, awaiting the inevitable arrival of the Spartans.

Said Spartans wasted no time in giving them a welcome. John and Xander threw their last two grenades up and over the hastily erected barricades, waited three seconds then stepped into the enlarged corridor that led to the bridge. Rather than firing, Xander pulled out his sword and charged at full Spartan speed, nearly eighty kilometers an hour, towards the Brutes. Blue explosions of plasma tore apart the Jackals attempting to help their comrades, leaving only the now enraged Brutes to deal with.

Xander called on every bit of rage and hatred he and John felt towards the Covenant. They had killed billions of people, glassed dozens of worlds, destroyed John's family, and royally screwed up Xander's life, and now Xander was going to make them pay. Relying on John to attack any Brutes that attempted to get behind him, Xander slashed away at the nearest Brute, severing it's arm and taking its' plasma rifle with it. It roared in pain and rage, and Xander shoved the sword into its' gut all the way to the hilt, then twisted and yanked it free through the side of its' body. Brute blood and guts splashed across Xander's shields before falling to the floor, along with the Brute to whom they had belonged.

Xander spun away, leading with the sword. He caught another Brute in the throat as it tried to smash him into the floor with its' massive arms. Another Brute charged at him, head down, leading with his shoulder like the universe's largest hockey player. Xander sidestepped with inhuman agility and lashed out as the alien passed, bisecting the huge beast at the waist.

Before Xander could move again he felt a massive par of arms circle around him, locking his arms to his waist in a bear hug. He was lifted off the ground and felt the grip of the alien tightening, using his massive strength to break first through Xander's shields, then crush him inside his suit. Without thinking, Xander whipped his head backwards, smashing the back of his armoured helmet into the alien's face. Xander felt the grip loosed slightly, but not enough, so he rammed his head back again, and again, and again, until he could hear the smack of liquids every time he made contact with the monstrous creature's face. Still the Brute continued crushing him, fueled by rage or belief or the simple desire to kill. Xander was beginning to see spots, but continued to head butt the alien, refusing to give up. Finally the alien could no longer hold on, and Xander slipped free, then spun around and slashed into the Brute's gut with his sword. Looking at the creature for the first time, he could simply not believe how much punishment the Brute took before finally succumbing. It's face was a bloody mess of hair and broken bone, barely distinguishable even in shape.

As the Brute slumped to the floor Xander spun to face John, who was approaching from mopping up the Jackals. He handed Xander a Jackal shield generator. "Cortana, how much time is left?" John asked.

"We've just emerged from Slipspace in high Earth orbit." Cortana replied.

"This is Spartan 117, can anyone read me?" John broadcast.

"Isolate that signal! Master Chief this is Admiral Hood. Mind telling me what you're doing on that ship?"

"Sir. Finishing this fight.." John replied simply.

"Admiral this is Cortana. The Covenant has split into two factions."

"I know, the Elite controlled ships have been broadcasting cease-fire requests." The Admiral replied.

"Do not, I repeat do not fire on Elite controlled ships. Their request is genuine." Cortana urged. They may try to intercept this ship, assist them if possible. I don't know what this thing is going to do, but there's no way it can be good."

Xander and John approached the door to the bridge. "Any idea what's inside?" John asked.

"Detecting four lifesigns, no, make that three. A Prophet, I can only guess Truth, two Brutes, and one human, very recently deceased." Cortana replied.

"I don't understand," Xander said. "A human? For what reason?"

"A human bio sign seems to be required to activate the Halo's, maybe the same is true for whatever this shop does." Cortana replied. "However if that's the case…"

"Then whatever he was needed for is done." John finished. He popped his last clip into his rifle and cocked it. Xander activated his sword and Jackal shield, and John pressed the release for the door. Nothing happened.

"Cortana?" Xander asked.

"Hang on, I'll see what I can do." She replied. There was no sound save for the hum of the ship for ten seconds, then twenty, then thirty.

"Cortana, kinda running on a deadline here? Any time now would be good." Xander said.

There was no response.

* * *

Spartan-104, Frederic, emerged from the smoke of the crashed ship behind him and looked out over the edge of the cliff as whatever was buried in the ground began to open like the petals of some unbelievably massive metal flower. Covenant ships ringed the area, engaged by other Covenant ships as the two factions fought each other. Fred could only watch as the massive machine opened and white light began to pour out. It seemed unfair to him that after all his fighting, all him and his brothers and sisters had endured, the fate of the world was now entirely out of his hands. He could only watch.

* * *

Cortana had not replied to Xander because she had been locked in battle with the three Covenant AI's that had been hiding in the system. They had done a remarkable job of camouflaging themselves as part of the system and only now, when they realized it was not possible to do anything else, they had attempted to attack Cortana directly.

Covenant AI's were very strange, in many ways they seemed like a fractured, incomplete copy of a human AI, in fact perhaps they were. Even together, the three AI's were not a match for Cortana. However together, they could slow her down, tie her up so she couldn't access the door control. After a full minute of fighting them, she finally managed to catch each one and tear them apart, line by line. Immediately after doing so, she was granted access to the rest of the ships systems. She opened the door, then gasped in horror at what she saw. "So this is how the worlds ends," she murmured.

* * *

After a full minute the door opened and John and Xander stepped into the bridge. The two Brutes waiting for them were quickly dispatched, and the two soldiers advanced on the Prophet of Truth, who was hovering in his chair at the front of the room, which was dominated by a massive viewscreen. They were now only a couple thousand feet over the ground, fast approaching a giant metal hole in the ground that shone with a brilliant white light. Around in Elite ships and Brute ships engaged in battle. The Elites were making progress, but too slowly.

Without giving the Prophet time to speak or raise the shields on his chair, John snapped his rifle up and fired a burst, ripping all three shots perfectly into the alien's forehead. "Cortana, what do we do?" He asked. They were now only a few hundred feet above the hole.

'It's a key,' Xander thought. 'This ship is a giant version of the key that starts the Halos.'

"A console, behind the Prophet. There's a key just like the one's used for the Halos." Cortana snapped. "Grab it, now!"

Xander rushed forward and shoved the now dead Prophet out of the way. Hidden behind him was a pedestal with a key just like the Master Chief had retrieved from the library on the Halo construct embedded in it. Xander snatched it out, and the ship slowed to a stop. Below them, the massive petals that covered the lock that this ship opened began to close.

"Congratulations Xander," Cortana said. "You just saved the galaxy."

"I don't understand." John said. "Is Earth a Halo?"

"No, this was the one way to preserve life in this galaxy." Cortana explained. "This ship is the only place in the galaxy shielded from the effects of the Halos. What it also does is generate a field throughout the Earth that protects all single cell life-forms living more than one hundred feet underground."

"That's why this ship is called the Ark." Xander said, suddenly understanding.

"The last of the Forerunner race remained here, shielded from the Halos and the Flood." Cortana explained. "When the Flood had starved, the Forerunners retrieved samples of the last organisms left in the galaxy and, as their last act, re-seeded the galaxy with life."

"Are you saying that Earth is the birthplace of all life in the galaxy?" John asked.

"Pretty much." Cortana replied.

"Master Chief?" Admiral Hood suddenly asked over the radio. "Can you give me your situation?"

"We've stopped the weapon sir, the Forerunner ship is relatively secure." John replied.

"I'm taking us to one of the super MAC platforms, Admiral." Cortana added. "I'd suggest you get fire teams ready and sweep the ship, there is still mopping up to do."

"Understood. We've made contact with the Elite command ship. He's informed us re-enforcements are on the way, including the Elite's de facto leader. Working together we should be able drive off the Brute controlled ships."

"That's good news sir." John replied. "May I suggest we meet with the Arbiter as soon as he arrives. We have… other situations to deal with."

"Relax, Master Chief, It looks like this battle might be coming to an end." The Admiral replied.

"With all due respect sir, there are bigger things at stake than this battle, and they're just getting started." John replied.

**End chap 12**

**I seem to be addicted to cliffhangers. Hope you guys liked this chapter, it was one of my longer ones but again I apologize for the long update time. Thanks for reading and please leave a review!**


	13. Saddling up

**Thanks to Nawaki no Shinobi, The Sithspawn, ChaosRonin, WBH21C, The Insane Imortal Dragon, Anime-Ronin, Big-G, stcobb, Pagan ThunderGod, Ant Crown, TenWings, sil, Toras, rankokun alpha, and The Loneliest One for the reviews, they are always appreciated.**

**Sorry about the long update time, but I kinda hit a wall with this chapter. To be honest I'm not entirely happy with it but what can I say, it is what it is. Anyway thanks for reading and on with the story!**

**Chapter 13**

The airlock doors opened and Xander and John stepped aboard the orbiting super-MAC platforms, one of dozens that orbited the Earth. Super-MACs were the ultimate weapons in the UNSC arsenal. The orbiting platforms were a gigantic version of the magnetic accelerator cannons that all UNSC heavy ships carried. Each station could accelerate a 3000-kilogram slug to one-tenth the speed of light every ten seconds, and place it with deadly accuracy. A solid hit from the gun platform felled even the largest of the Covenant capital ships.

This station, the _Olympus_, was also serving and the UNSC's command and control center. Immediately after stepping through the airlock, Xander and John were met by a young marine who looked awed and almost frightened by the pair.

"Sirs," he said, throwing a salute which Xander and John returned. "The Admiral has requested your presence in conference room B."

"Thank you Corporal." John replied. The young marine snapped John a quick but crisp salute and then went to join a fire team getting ready to sweep the Forerunner ship for Covenant survivors.

Xander followed John down the halls of the station, presumable heading towards the conference room where the admiralty and the leaders of the renegade sect of the Covenant waited.

"Do you plan to explain to me any time soon who you are or where you came from?" John asked, laying his gold tinted gaze on the substantially shorter Spartan beside him.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it came up when we got to the conference room," Xander answered casually. He didn't volunteer any more information and John decided not to ask and just see how this played out.

They reached the metal door lettered conference room B and John pressed the electronic chime beside the door.

"Enter," A gruff voice answered.

The door slid opened and Xander and John walked in, then snapped to attention and saluted.

Only once before had John seen this much high level Navy brass in one room, after the Covenant's assault on Cote d'Azur, the city on Sigma Octanus, the only planet the UNSC had ever prevented from glassing. Besides Admiral Hood, three other high level fleet commanders, Marine Major General Nicolas Strauss, and Colonel James Ackerson, a high level Office of Naval Intelligence officer were present. Also present were Commander Keyes, Sergeant Johnson and The Arbiter along with two other Elites who were wearing gold armour. The Elites were unarmed but armed ODST troops stood watchful over the alien trio.

Admiral Hood nodded to Xander and John. "At ease Spartans, damn good to see you Master Chief. I'm sorry son but I don't recognize you offhand." Hood said, nodding to Xander.

"No sir I don't imagine you would," Xander replied. "My name is Xander."

"That's not one of the names on the Spartan list!" Ackerson shouted, fiery in his tone already.

Xander had only one memory of Ackerson from John. At the debriefing session after his mission on Cote d'Azur, Ackerson had treated John with contempt and had referred to the Spartans as, 'Halsey's wind up soldiers' in front of the brass. It was obvious to Xander that he didn't like the Spartans and had a feeling he was going to be trouble.

"No, it's not. I'm, kinda not from around here." Xander replied.

"Sir, I might be able to help explain." Johnson added. "Xander here is from another dimension."

"I'm sorry, I can't have heard you right," General Strauss said. "Can you repeat that, Sergeant?"

"Yessir, I said Xander is from another dimension, Cortana could explain it better." Johnson said. "Why don't we get her fine looking purple ass in here?"

"Cortana is helping coordinate the fire teams aboard the Forerunner ship." John replied.

"Anyway the Sergeant is right." Xander added. "I'm from another dimension, I was dumped out of a portal on the Forerunner ship just before the Master Chief boarded it. Cortana explained it as since there are an infinite number of possibilities there is a universe in which possibility occurs. I'm from another reality."

"This is ridiculous!" Ackerson shouted. "Sergeant, have you been making a habit of bashing your head into bulkheads on a regular basis?"

"James, shut up." Hood said, glowering at the ONI officer. "I'm sick of listening to you bad mouth anyone or anything that comes close to supporting the Spartans or Doctor Halsey's work."

The Colonel opened his mouth to reply, but was silenced by a glare from Hood. "Now, as irritating as the Colonel is, he does have a point, this is all rather far-fetched." Hood said. "Now, Xander, Sergeant, would you care to explain?"

"Well sir, in my reality the year is 1998. The supernatural is real, and the events of the Halo incident are a video game. For Halloween I dressed as the Master Chief and a chaos mage performed a spell that transformed everyone into their costumes. At the end of the night everyone changed back except me. We determined that was because of Cortana, since she came into the reality as part of a spell but did not possess anyone she remained after it ended. For her to remain alive the costume would have to be real MJOLNIR armour and for me to survive inside I would have to be a Spartan." Xander explained. "And I can see by the looks on all your faces that you think I'm a complete nutcase."

"Master Chief, what's your opinion of Xander here?" Hood asked. "Is this some kind of trick?"

"He's a Spartan Admiral, just not one of ours." John replied. "We're sure he's not a Spartan III?"

"The Spartan program was wiped out with the rest of Reach." Strauss replied. "All the Spartan III trainees were killed."

"I believe Xander may be telling the truth." The Arbiter added. "Shortly before the attack on Earth I heard rumours of research into interdimensional portals. He may well be from another dimension."

"This is a trick!" Ackerson shouted. "He's some kind of Covenant plant. Gain our trust, then gut us from the inside!"

"No," Hood said, "that's far too subtle for the Covenant, they don't have that much tact. No offense." He added, nodding to the Arbiter.

"None taken, and I give you my word that I know nothing of what is going on here." The Arbiter replied.

"Sir I give you my word as a Marine Xander is telling the truth." Johnson said. "I spent a couple of weeks in his world, and I trust him with my life."

"How could you have spent a couple of weeks on his world?" Keyes asked. "You were only out of sight for a few hours today."

"Look," Xander said, bringing the attention of the room back to him. "I understand this is confusing, but we really need to focus on what's going on right now. Sergeant Johnson trusts me, Cortana trusts me, and we really need to focus on the bigger problems right now. So can we just accept this for now and deal with it later?"

Hood and Strauss exchanged looks, then turned to Xander. "Alright, Xander. But we'll definitely be continuing this discussion." Hood said seriously.

"Yes sir."

"I can't believe you're going along with this!" Ackerson shouted angrily.

"Colonel if you don't like the situation you're more than welcome to leave." Hood said. "I'm not exactly thrilled either but given then gravity of the situation we need any Spartan we can get."

Ackerson scoffed and opened his mouth but before he could speak Hood cut him off.

"I really got give a damn what you think of the Spartan program James." Hood said. "If you could see five feet past your own agenda you could see that the Spartans are probably one of the only things that have held the UNSC together. Until he gives us a reason otherwise, we are going to give Xander the benefit of the doubt, and that is final. Now, returning to the problem at hand, Master Chief you were the last person aboard High Charity, what's the situation."

"Bad, sir. The city is completely infected. The prophets probably did us a favour by taking the Ark though, it was powering the city so now she's dead in space."

"Thank god for small favours," Strauss said sarcastically. "Now they only have the thousands of ships that are docked with the city."

"My forces have created a no fly zone buffer around the city, but we are spread too thin." The Arbiter added. "It will only be a matter of time before an infected ship slips through."

"We'll reinforce it best we can, but between the battles for Reach and Earth, our fleet has been decimated." Hood said, a slight edge in his voice. "We have only a few dozen ships available right now."

The Arbiter nodded. "I understand, and on behalf of my people I apologize for our contribution in the damage we've caused you. I know no apology is sufficient, but I offer one all the same."

Hood nodded. "You're right, no apology is sufficient, but for the time being we can at least put aside our differences and try to stop the Flood."

"There are other… complications, sir." The Master Chief said. "At first we thought the Flood was merely a parasite, that the only skills it had were obtained through memories from the host, but while on this Halo I encountered a creature called Gravemind. It seems to be a leader of the Flood."

"Leader?" Strauss asked.

"If I may sir," Xander waited for Strauss to nod, then continued. "Think of the Flood like a hive, with Gravemind as the queen bee. The infection and warrior forms are mostly mindless, but can take orders from Gravemind, who seems to be intelligent."

"Are you saying the Flood might have some kind of agenda?" Hood asked.

"I don't know sir, but you can get they're at least trying to figure out a way to get out of that barricade." Xander said.

Cortana suddenly flickered into existence on a holographic pedestal in the middle of the table. "Sorry I'm late," Cortana said. "Admiral I take it you've been introduced to Xander?"

"I have, as well as the idea that the Flood is at least partially sentient." The Admiral replied. "We need to deal with this as quickly as possible, before the problem spreads. I need ideas, people."

"What about firing just the one Halo?" Strauss asked. "Cortana, would that be possible?"

"It might be, but there are still four occupied worlds within range. The Halos were designed to overlap substantially in the event of a failure." Cortana replied.

"Could we destroy it with nukes?" The Master Chief asked.

The Arbiter shook his head. "The point defense systems on the city are very good, any object not of Covenant construction and broadcasting the appropriate codes would be destroyed."

"Even then it would be no good," Cortana said. "You're not grasping the size of this city. High Charity is more than a hundred kilometres long, even with our most powerful nukes they would need to be placed deep inside the city to ensure complete destruction."

Something clicked in Xander's head. "We might have that already." He turned to the Arbiter. "On Reach Vice Admiral Whitcomb left an experimental nuke called a Nova on a countdown timer hoping you would find it and take it back to High Charity. Did you?"

The Arbiter nodded. "We found the weapon, but deactivated it. I believe it is sitting in one of our laboratories right now."

"Then we already have a weapon in place." Xander explained. "We just need to insert a team, fight our way to the lab, and activate the weapon. The city, and hopefully the Halo is destroyed."

Hood favoured him with a smile. "Damn, you must be a Spartan. Only a Spartan could come up with a plan that suicidal and actually think about pulling it off. Master Chief, what are your thoughts?"

John thought for a moment. "It's a high risk mission sir, even for us. But I think it might be possible."

"I will offer any assistance I can, including troops to reinforce the boarding party." The Arbiter added.

"We'll also need a Covenant dropship, and the codes to get past High Charity's point defence system." Cortana said.

"Alright then," Hood said. He turned to the Arbiter. "Coordinate with the Master Chief and assemble your team. Let me make it clear that the boarding party, the entire boarding party, will be under his command. Is that going to be a problem?"

"The Master Chief has thwarted dozens, maybe hundreds of attempts by Covenant ground troops in the past. It will be an honour to fight beside him." The Arbiter replied. "I will make sure any Sangheili who feel differently will be left behind."

Hood nodded. "Alright then people, let's get to work. Dismissed."

* * *

Xander checked his shotgun then chambered a round and slung the weapon over his back. Around him, the four remaining Spartans loaded up their weapons, along with the Arbiter and another nine Elites he had chosen to join the boarding party.

The Master Chief stepped beside Xander and watched him for a moment. "Xander, I'm placing you in charge of checking the Elites readiness."

Xander nodded, understanding why the Chief had given him the job rather than one of the other Spartans. He trusted Xander, the outsider, to do the job right with less prejudice than his brothers and sisters who had fought the Covenant for so long. "Yes sir."

Xander walked to the group of Elites. "Alright, warriors listen up."

The Elites stopped and looked at him, no trace of malice or anger in their eyes. Mentally Xander nodded, the Arbiter had made sure to pick the utmost professional of his warriors.

"I know the Arbiter picked you because you're the best, but this is a high risk mission and we need to work together seamlessly to pull this off. It's critical that we all watch each other's backs if we're going to pull this off. You'll notice that we're using human weapons, this is because they've proven more effective again the Flood. The way this is going to work is that we are going to work as fire teams, with a division of five covering each short, medium and long range. No matter what is happening, you have to put first priority on your designated fire zone. If there are targets there, they are first priority. Now I know in the past, Elites were the first to rush into battle, seeking honour and possibly an honourable death, but you can't do that this time." Xander said.

There was some grumbling about this comment from the Elites.

"No!" Xander said loudly. "This is not open for debate. Look at it this way, there is no honour in dying a useless death and failing in our mission. We stick together, and we work as a team and that's final!"

The Arbiter favoured him with a nod, and the grumbling from the other Elites ceased.

"Okay," Xander said. "Take as much ammunition as you can carry and a good back up weapon for in close. Be ready, we leave in ten minutes."

Xander turned and walked away, back to his own equipment. He grabbed a battle rifle, good for medium range coverage, and started picking up clips throwing them in a backpack he would carry.

John approached him. "What do you think of them?" He asked.

"They'll do the job," Xander replied. "Just make sure you show them the same respect you'd show any other Spartan."

John nodded almost imperceptibly. "I'm placing Fred in charge of the medium party with you and three Elites, report to the ship and him when you're loaded."

"Yes sir." Xander threw a salute that John returned before walking away. A moment later he picked up his backpack and his weapons and headed for the dropship, and the most horrible hell he could ever imagine.

**End Chap 12**

**Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, I'll try and get the next one out soon, but I have a feeling it's going to be a long one. Anyway thanks for reading and please leave a review!**


	14. This is where we stand!

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter sorry for taking so long to get this next one up. Hopefully you'll like it, it took me a long time to figure out how i was gonna do this. So anyway without further adieu, on with the story! **

**  
Chapter 14**

The Phantom drop ship, a new Covenant model that was replacing the old U shaped ones, lurched as it left the hangar and entered space. A Covenant destroyer had dropped them off outside sensor range and they were now on their way to High Charity, the Covenant city that now orbited a Halo construct. The dropship, piloted by Cortana, picked it's way slowly and deliberately through wreckage from several derelict Covenant ships that had drifted away from the massive city.

Realistically, city was something of an understatement. High Charity was really more of a mobile civilization. It consisted of a massive dome, perhaps half a moon or very small planet, sitting like an umbrella overtop of a massive spire perhaps a thousand kilometres long. Around the massive city/ship/planet lay destroyed Covenant ships, some Flood controlled that were destroyed trying to escape, some Covenant ships that had spent their last hours fighting to hold back the vicious horde. The dropship slipped between two floating wrecks and approached the city.

"Okay," Cortana said, "here's where we find out if these codes are still good." For a moment nothing happened, then suddenly three plasma turrets on the city swivelled towards them. "Apparently not." Cortana said with some dismay. "Hang on."

Cortana punched the engines and the dropship accelerated towards High Charity, rolling and weaving to provide a difficult target. Suddenly, two of the plasma balls forming over the turrets suddenly burst and dissipated, while the third one launched and turned to track the small dropship.

"It's our lucky day," Cortana said, "looks like two of those turrets were damaged."

"Oh good," Xander added sarcastically. "Only one massive plasma ball is chasing us, I should have bought a lottery ticket today."

Cortana dove in, skimming along the spires that made up the massive skeleton of High Charity. The plasma ball dove in behind them, but could not follow the dropship through a tight set of jinks and slammed into one of the spires, which sizzled orange and released a jet of atmosphere as the plasma melted through the skin. Around them, Xander noted that more points of light were beginning to form, other plasma turrets beginning to charge.

Xander was not the only one who noticed. "Cortana, just get us down, I don't care if we can't get to the landing site!" John ordered.

"Wait one," Cortana replied. "I'm getting a transmission from the other Cortana, the one still in the High Charity computers. She's managed to de-activate the turrets in a nearby sector. It's not our landing site but it's better than crash landing here."

The dropship swerved and accelerated towards the sector that the other Cortana had managed to safety for them. The ship swung around and as fast as was safely possible, connected to an airlock and equalized pressure. Xander collected Cortana from the ship's computer while John moved to the door. He indicated for Fred, Linda and the Arbiter to cover the door, and when they were ready he pressed the release and the door swung open.

They were greeted only by an eerie silence and a dank, dimly lit passageway. The air seemed heavy and thick, almost as though the Flood was altering the atmosphere somehow. On a signal from John, the fire teams spread out, covering the hall in all directions with the long-range shooters in the centre of a loose circle.

"Head down this hallway," Cortana said. A waypoint appeared on the HUD of every soldier in the group, and the team moved down the hallway, always keeping a lookout and a weapon in every direction. They moved like this for five minutes and still the halls remained silent, High Charity a giant tomb floating through the void. Then, all at once, they began to hear the skittering. It grew quickly in intensity and seemed to come from all around them. A faint green glow began to creep into the dank corridors ahead and behind.

"Fire teams stand ready." John said with all the calm of a seasoned warrior who has faced death and knows he will live to face it again.

Suddenly, bursting from the darkness of the corridors all around them, Flood infection forms began to pour forth. First dozens, then hundreds of the small glowing creatures clinging to the walls, the floor the ceiling all began to converge towards the fifteen soldiers sent to destroy High Charity.

The fifteen soldiers stood fast and calm, what more would you expect from Spartans, or those who would fight beside them?

The short-range fire team dropped to a knee, giving the medium and long-range shooters in the centre a clear firing line, and then every gun in the group was suddenly barking flames. Little fleshy explosions occurred all over the corridor as bullets lashed out and punched through the weak infection forms, sometimes causing chain reactions with the other infection forms that were unfortunate enough to be too close. Thanks to the ranged fire teams and overlapping fields of fire, no infection form got any closer than perhaps twenty feet from the outermost members of the group.

After perhaps ten or fifteen seconds of shooting, the hallways were empty and silent again.

John looked at the centre of the circle where Linda, Will, and three Elites stood. They made up the long-range fire team, and had perhaps had the least work due to the suddenness of the attack.

John pointed to Will and one of the Elites. "You two, you're now part of the short range team. The next group won't be so… fragile."

Will and the Elite nodded and moved to the outer edge of the circle. The group continued down the hall. Lumps of hideous grey flesh that glowed with a faint iridescent green glow clung to the walls and the floor, almost as though the actual city itself was slowly succumbing to infection. Xander checked the distance to their objective, the lab that contained the Nova bomb. It was more than four kilometres away and Xander had no idea how much twisting and turning would be involved in getting to the lab. Suddenly a voice sounded over the speakers of the hallway.

"Hi, Master Chief, I knew you'd be back for me." Cortana said smugly. "I'm doing my best to lock down the city and give you straight line access to the lab, but you're going to have a hell of a fight to get there. Gravemind knows you're here. Expect heavy resistance."

As if on cue hideous Flood warrior forms surged into the passageway. Unlike the normal mixed group of Flood infection, warrior and carrier forms only warriors were present in this group and all seemed armed. A hail of bullets and plasma flew through the air towards the formation of soldiers.

Immediately Linda and the long-range group opened fire along with the medium range group, while the short-range fire team deployed Jackal shields to cover everyone. The warrior forms fell before the assault, while the shields soaked up the rounds they had sent at the Spartans and Elites. Firing away with his battle rifle, Xander thought how fitting the theme of this battle was and laughed out loud.

"What could possibly be funny at a time like this?" Cortana asked.

"It's just kind of fitting," Xander replied. "Totally outgunned and outnumbered, we force our opponents to fight in narrow corridors, where their numbers count for nothing."

"Wave after wave of attacks smash against Spartan shields," John quoted.

"You got it," Xander nodded. "It's our own personal Thermopylae. So, in keeping with that theme I suggest we stick with the Phalanx approach."

The group of soldiers slowly advanced, using the ancient Phalanx tactic that had helped the original Spartans inflict such incredible losses on the Persian armies of Xerxes. The short-range shooters, shoulder to shoulder, covered the group from damage while the medium and long-range shooters picked off attacking targets. Cortana continued to seal the passages behind them so they only had to look ahead for attackers. Everything was working perfectly, and the group was slowly making progress. That was at least until the Hunters showed up.

Another group of warrior forms had been dealt with when suddenly the wall of the corridor just behind the formation exploded. The massive, twisted body of what used to be a Hunter came through, followed by a second. Immediately the Hunter swatted with his shield, knocking aside an Elite, sending Linda flying into the wall of the corridor and scattering the remaining soldiers. At the same time, another wave of warrior forms surged down the corridor from the other direction, pinching the Spartans and Elites between them.

"Break lines!" John shouted. "Engage at will!"

Immediately following John's order, Xander back flipped up and over the first of the two Hunters, landing between them and crouching protectively over Linda's body. He ignited his sword, spun and slashed at the second of the two Hunters, who was slowly lumbering towards him. The plasma blade cut effortlessly through the Hunter's large arm, slicing off the deadly fuel rod cannon. It did little to slow the monster down though. With his shield arm he swatted at Xander.

Xander jumped, trying to dive over the shield and come up on the Hunter's undefended side. Unfortunately he just wasn't fast enough. Though the huge slab like shield did no damage, it did clip him, sending him spinning off balance into the wall of the narrow corridor. Instinctively Xander spun away and was just narrowly missed by the Hunter, who had jammed his shield like a spear into the wall where he had been just a second before.

Xander continued his spin out behind the Hunter and slashed into it's unprotected back with his sword. The huge beast dropped to the deck, seeping a thick green fluid from the wound. With no time to celebrate, Xander turned to face a scene of utter chaos. Over two dozen warrior forms were engaged in close quarters combat with the Elites and Spartans. Normally it wouldn't have been a huge problem save for the remaining Hunter that was wading through the battle, swatting away soldiers wherever he could. Suddenly a loud crack filled the air, and the Hunter dropped to the ground dead. Xander looked over to see Linda, still slumped against the wall but holding her sniper rifle. From a sitting position she had fired a perfect shot through a crowd one handed. She struggled to rise and waved Xander on ahead.

Xander lunged into the battle, sword drawn and started hacking away at the warrior forms. Without the support of the huge Hunter, the warrior forms fell quickly to the swords and shotguns of the group, and soon the hall was silent again. Xander surveyed the carnage. Flood bodies littered the floor, but three Elites had joined the ranks of their fallen brothers, and Linda was limping badly, slow to make her way back to the group.

"Go ahead," She said. "I'll stay here and cover your flank." She tossed John, Fred and Will a Spartan smile and turned her back, crouching against the wall and covering the hole against further Flood.

Xander looked at the waypoint. There were less than five hundred meters from it.

"Chief, the lab's just down the hall. Cortana and I can handle it," Xander said. "Get everyone else out of here."

John looked at Xander for a moment, considering.

"I will assist him," The Arbiter added. "The two of us together will be able to fight off any more Flood we come across."

John nodded. "Alright. Cortana, get us to a hangar and let's get out of here, now! Fred, get Linda."

Xander and the Arbiter turned and ran full speed, leaving the rest of the group to find their way out of the monstrous labyrinth. They encountered no more Flood as they ran down the hall, and in less than a minute they were outside the lab. Xander pressed himself against one side of the door and motioned for the Arbiter to do the same. He clicked the mike on his radio once and Cortana opened the door.

The Arbiter and Xander entered the small lab, guns leading the way. There was no sign of any Flood though, and they made their way to the table on which the Nova stood. Considering that it was a bomb capable of literally cracking a planet, it was pretty unobtrusive. A simple metal box about eight feet long, four feet wide and two feet high, only the nuclear symbols on the side gave it away as any kind of weapon. Xander made his way over to the console on the top of the box and lowered his glove to the access port. "Cortana, do your stuff." A yellow light flew from his glove to the weapon and data appeared on the inlaid screen.

"You chose to do this alone so the others could save Linda," The Arbiter said. It was not a question.

"That's right," Xander replied.

"It is a noble thing to do. I am honoured to have fought beside you, Xander." The Arbiter gave a quick nod without looking away from the door he was guarding.

"While I appreciate it, hopefully we'll have to do just a bit more fighting beside each other before the day is out." Xander replied.

The light flew back to his suit. "All done. Smash the console so they can't stop the counter," Cortana ordered. Xander slammed his fist down on the keyboard, screen and wireless port, smashing all of them. "Chief, we're all done here," Cortana called over the radio. "You have twenty minutes to get clear." A radio click was their only reply.

"Okay let's get the hell out of here," Xander called, moving towards the door with his shotgun ready. As soon as it opened, the Arbiter and Xander were out running, sprinting down the hall as fast as they could towards another point on their HUD that marked the closest hangar. It seemed like out of every opening, be it a crack in the wall, a vent or a door, Flood were suddenly coming out of the woodwork. Xander and the Arbiter didn't stop running and just fired as they ran, doing their best to stay dead in the middle of the hall and clearing a path ahead of them. Flood warrior forms and carrier forms trying to block their way fell in a hail of bullets. But even their dead bodies accomplished something, slowing down the advancing soldiers. Xander could tell that John and his soldiers were meeting similar resistance. On the side of his HUD, blue lights denoting two more Elites and Will had winked out, indicating that at the very least their armour had stopped transmitting.

From beside and behind hideously malformed appendages lashed out, only getting glancing blows on the two soldiers, but slowly picking away at their shield strength and giving it no time to recharge.

John's voice came over the radio, "Xander, we're clear."

Xander clicked his mike in acknowledgement and kept moving. He eyed the timer running on the bottom of his HUD. They had only ten minutes to get to the hangar, get a ship and get to a safe distance. A hundred meters ahead of him, several Flood carrier forms standing together were completely blocking the hall. The Arbiter quickly threw two grenades. Xander waited a second them threw one as well. The first grenades blew up, obliterating the carriers and releasing a horde of infection forms. Xander's grenade burst most of the little abominations before they could get clear, leaving a pretty much clear path. As the duo rushed through, the remaining forms leapt, slamming into the pair's shields and exploding. Xander's shield burst under the assault.

With no shield to protect him, the next warrior form to lash out at him connected solidly with his chest. Though Xander didn't slow, the impact rocked him and he could feel at least one of his ribs break under the force of the blow. He strained not to cry out or break his stride in any way.

Suddenly the next door in the corridor opened, and they burst into the hangar. By now they had been running full tilt for thirteen minutes. Along with the broken ribs, Xander was fairly certain he had frayed or torn the Achilles tendon in his left ankle. Every pounding step was agony but he didn't dare stop. They reached the closest Phantom dropship, and as the Arbiter climbed aboard to start the ship, Xander turned to defend against the closing horde. His shields had finally recharged, and he loaded his last few rounds into the shotgun he held. He threw his last two grenades into the oncoming mass of Flood. They detonated at the feet of a the group, blowing up three warriors and causing three more carriers to burst, which in turn did more damage to the group. Unfortunately they will still more than a dozen strong, and did not stop.

Xander fired and fired, emptying every cartridge he had into the horde then threw the empty gun at them for good measure. Bolts of plasma flew back at him, cutting away his shield. As soon as it burst he leapt on board the ship, slamming the hatch behind him. Before he got it closed, one last blast snuck through, catching Xander in his now unshielded face. The gold visor exploded under the heat. Xander, his vision now stained a deep red, struggled forward to find a seat as the Arbiter shot the ship forward through the hangar doors and headed away from High Charity as fast as he could. Motes of light began to form as the plasma turrets turned and fired at the escaping ship.

With no more HUD, Xander had no idea how much time was left before the bomb went off. He reached up to wipe his face, and his glove came away stained with a lot of blood. Just before he passed out, he felt the ship shudder under a huge shockwave.

* * *

At the same time as two tiny ships headed away form High Charity in similar directions, the counter on the unimposing box in the laboratory reached the end of its countdown. Across High Charity, Flood creatures and any remaining uninfected Covenant turned to see the source of the rumble shaking the city. They would see a white light and then, for them at least, the world would end. 

If anyone were watching from a distance, they would see cracks suddenly appear all around the city, with white light pouring out of them. About three quarters of the way up the spire the light suddenly burst forth and the city blew apart. The Nova bomb was incredibly powerful, and vaporized most of the massive spire, but the dome was simply too large. Instead, it shattered into thousands of pieces, some as large as a hundred kilometres across. Many were sent into space but others were blasted in the directions of the Halo that High Charity was orbiting. A pair of particularly large pieces smashed into the ring, imparting even more destructive force than the Pillar of Autumn had inflicted on the first Halo. Fire swept over the ring from the impact, and just as the previous Halo, it shattered. Immediately all the artificial environment and atmosphere systems failed, turning each fragment into an airless frozen wasteland. Gravemind had no time to contemplate his fate as, just like everything else, he was obliterated.

* * *

Xander awoke lying on a bed in the infirmary of some UNSC ship. He was no longer wearing his armour, and his vision was no longer red. He sat up to look around, and one of the nurses noticed and immediately called for the doctor. He turned and quickly made his way over to Xander's bedside. 

"Hello, Xander. My name is Doctor White. How are you feeling?" The doctor asked, looking at the monitors surrounding Xander's bed.

"Better," Xander replied simply. "How bad is the damage?"

"Not that bad," White replied. "Well, not bad for a Spartan at least. Two broken ribs and another cracked, some damage to the Achilles tendon in your left ankle, and lacerations, burns, a light concussion to your head, and, of course, substantial blood loss. I've mended the breaks and cleaned and regenerated the cuts and burns, but you'll still have to take it easy for a couple of days. I'd like to keep you overnight for observation, but I've treated Spartans before and I imagine you have different ideas."

"Got it in one, I want to see how my team fared," Xander replied. "Can I get some clothes?"

* * *

A few moments later Xander was dressed in simple fatigues with no rank insignia and limping slightly as he headed for a briefing room where he'd been told Admiral Hood as well as the remaining Spartans and the Arbiter were waiting for him. He knocked and from inside Hood's voice bid him to enter. 

Xander stepped inside the briefing room and looked at the people around the table. Admiral Hood sat at the head of the table. One on side sat the Arbiter, Sergeant Johnson, and Commander Keyes. On the other side sat the Master Chief along with Fred and Linda, who was wearing a cast on her right leg. Will was not present.

"Ah, Xander," Admiral Hood said warmly, "Glad to see you're up and about. Doctor's cleared you for release?"

"More or less," Xander replied with a slight smile. "He'd treated Spartans before."

"Of course," Hood smiled in returned. "You'll be happy to know that the mission was a complete success. High Charity has been destroyed and took the Halo with it. We're tracking down and destroying any fragments or ships we think might be capable of supporting life."

"What about Will and Cortana, sir?" Xander asked.

"I managed to get Cortana out of High Charity," John answered. "Will… didn't make it. After we split up we lost another two Elites as well, and a third lost his arm."

Xander turned to the Arbiter. "I am sorry for your loss."

The Arbiter looked at Xander and nodded. "They fought bravely, and they were honoured to get the chance to serve beside you."

Hood cleared his throat to bring Xander's attention back. "So Chief Petty Officer, where do we go from here?"

"Sir?" Xander asked, looking confused. "Did you just call me a Chief Petty Officer?"

"Oh, that's right," Hood stood up and walked over to the surprised teenager. "On behalf on the United Nations Space Command I hereby bestow upon you the rank of Chief Petty Officer." He opened a small box, which contained a gleaming silver and blue medal. "The Navy Cross can only be give to military personnel, so we had to make you an officer to receive it. Congratulations."

A stunned Xander stood still as the Admiral pinned the medal on him. "I know this isn't a normal ceremony, but for the time being no one in the general population knows about you, Chief. I have a feeling it's going to stay that way as well." Hood stood back and, snapping to attention fired off a salute. Xander noted that behind him all of the Spartans, Johnson, Keyes and the Arbiter had followed suit.

Xander snapped to attention himself and returned the salute. He did his best to suppress his very not military grin but couldn't quite do it. "Thank you sir, thanks to all of you."

"No Xander, thank you." Hood answered. "If not for you, I think we can be certain at the very least Linda wouldn't be here today, and not many can say that their actions have saved the life of a Spartan. Now I think the question is, where do we go from here?"

"Well sir, I hope for me the answer is home," Xander answered, scratching his head. "It was suggested to me that this would be a pretty short tour."

"Yeah, and you came through for us kid." A voice said from behind Xander. He whipped around to find Whistler leaning against the wall. "Nice job." He said, throwing Xander a two-finger salute.

Xander waved down everyone who was getting up in alarm at the sudden appearance of the balance demon. "It's okay, well sort of okay. He's just the message boy for the PTB."

"PTB?" John asked.

"The Powers That Be," Whistler explained. "Everybody relax, I'm just here to explain the travel arrangements for Xander, here. He did his job, now he gets to go home." Whistler looked at Xander. "In exactly forty eight hours a portal is going to open in orbit over the dark side of the moon. We've tried to put it out of the way so no one's going to notice your departure. As this ship drops out of Slipspace near Earth you take a Pelican and just wait back there. The portal will drop you in high Earth orbit and what you do from there is up to you."

"Why can't we just do it from the ground?" Xander asked.

Whistler shrugged. "Got me, I'm just the messenger. Anyways the Powers are gonna keep their word. No more Covenant bad guys, no more dimensional holes. Just be where they say to be and you get to go home. Take care kiddo, hopefully we won't see each other again any time soon." With that Whistler simply vanished into thin air.

Xander turned around to face the shocked inhabitants of the briefing room. "So Admiral, uh, can I borrow a Pelican?"

* * *

After some debate Xander was allowed the use of a battered old Pelican that wouldn't be missed. His armour, repaired and cleaned had been returned to him, and he had been issued the uniform of a UNSC Chief Petty Officer to take with him as well. Xander spent the majority of the time sleeping, and, at the request of Doctor White, returned for a follow up. He was cleared, though the doctor still urged him to try and take it easy for a little while.

The following day, an hour before the portal was scheduled to open, Xander stood in the hangar bay of the UNSC Midway, one of the last heavy cruisers in the fleet. He was once again in his armour, his Cortana in his head. The Spartans, Johnson, the Arbiter and the Admiral had bid him goodbye and he now loaded his small bag into the battle scarred Pelican and dropped into the pilot's seat. He allowed Cortana to remote control the ship out of the hangar and set a course for the dark side of the moon. Xander took a moment to look at the Earth before it disappeared behind the swell of the moon, then he leaned back and relaxed.

About half an hour after they reached the moon the portal opened, a swirling green vortex of energy easily big enough for the Pelican to fly through. Xander smiled in his helmet as they headed towards the portal. "You know what I'm going to do when we get home? Eat the biggest greasiest cheeseburger I can find and wash it down with a nice big Coke."

"Lovely," Cortana replied sarcastically.

The ship passed through the portal and appeared in high Earth orbit, on an unavoidable collision course with a satellite.

"Shit!" Cortana shouted trying to evade. But there was not chance. The Pelican slammed into the satellite at a collision speed of over three thousand kilometres per hour. The satellite was immediately destroyed and the Pelican careened toward the Earth, completely out of control.

The Pelican had not suffered serious damage from the collision but before Cortana was able to get control the ship entered Earth's atmosphere. The Pelican, though very tough, was hard pressed to stand up to such a violent and off angle entry into the atmosphere, and pieces of armour plating began to fizzle and melt away as the ship fell towards the Earth below. Anyone watching from the ground would have seen an impressive fireball burning it's way across the sky.

The left rear engine creaked, then broke off the Pelican, leaving almost no chance for gaining control of the re-entry. Still, Cortana gave it her at and at about 20 thousand feet managed to get the ship oriented in the direction it was travelling. But they were too fast a crash was unavoidable. As the altitude dropped off Cortana fired the front hover engines, pitching the Pelican up and creating a massive shockwave as the bird passed just under Mach 1. With just a few hundred feet of altitude left she pointed the nose as high as she could and fired all engines. "Hang on!" She shouted.

Every engine on the ship fired, slowing it but starting the ship rolling slowly to the left. The ship hit the middle of the desert at just under two hundred miles per hour. It dug a hundred foot channel in the sand, leaving smoking debris in its wake. Then the ship stopped, and the desert was once again silent.

**End Chap 14**

** Will Xander survive re-entry? Find out soon (hopefully at least)! Thanks for reading and please leave a review!  
**


	15. Home, sweltering home

**Hey guys, thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. Almost 250 reviews, and over 56,500 views, I never would have believed it. Anyways, thanks again.**

**Before you read this chapter, I want to make a suggestion. If you're looking for a good story, I highly recommend "Slayer of the Dead" by Locathah. It's one of the best stories I've read on and I think people are overlooking it for whatever reason. I can tell you that getting a review is a great ego boost and I'm sure Locathah would love to see that more people are reading his excellent story. Anyways, thanks again for reading an on with the story!**

**Chapter 15**

"Xander! Wake up!"

Xander awoke with a start, then the pain kicked in and elicited a long anguished groan.

"Yeah, yeah I know my landing sucked, no need for the drama," Cortana grumbled.

Xander groaned again, then took stock of his position. At some point during the crash he had migrated back to the hold of the Pelican, and was now uncomfortably resting slumped upside down against one of the walls, his back jammed painfully into a row of seats. His chest hurt badly, as did his right wrist and the left ankle he had injured on High Charity. He also noticed that his heads up display seemed to be malfunctioning. There was no longer a shield bar.

Xander rolled over and stumbled to his feet. He limped to the pilot's seat and collected Cortana from the ships computer and surveyed his surroundings. There wasn't much to see, in every direction there was nothing but desert.

"This isn't good," Cortana said. "You and your armour have taken a pounding Xander. You've got two cracked ribs, a sprained wrist and you've re-aggravated the damage to your Achilles tendon."

"Hey, don't blame me," Xander replied, "You were flying."

Cortana ignored him. "What's worse is the armour though. The fusion power pack has been damaged. I imagine you've noticed you don't have shields any more, that's because the generator can't provide power for them any more. It's basically running in power saver mode right now, just trying to keep the critical functions of the suit going as long as possible. I'd imagine we have about three days more before it fails completely and the suit locks up."

"Awesome. Any more good news?" Xander asked.

Cortana sighed. "I'm pretty sure someone tracked us coming in, we were pretty hard to miss. We better get out of here. Take whatever rations you can carry."

Xander looked around at the, albeit wrecked, high technology around him. "What about the ship? Shouldn't we blow it up or something?"

"I'd say yes. If we had any explosives, that is. It's pretty badly wrecked, I doubt much is salvageable anyway. Now let's go, I'm sure helicopters will be appearing over that horizon soon." Cortana said.

Two minutes later Xander was trudging away from the wreckage, the heavy winds blowing away his footprints as he went. "So where are we, exactly?"

"A little ways south of Death Valley, about one hundred miles from Sunnydale." Cortana replied grimly.

Xander sighed. "Let me guess, it's the closest town."

"It is. We need to get there in three days too, because if we don't the suit will power down. It'll lock up, and you'll have no protection from the elements." Cortana cautioned. "I'm sorry Xander, this is my fault."

"No, it's not. We had no time to avoid that satellite. There was nothing you could have done." Xander said. He crested a sand dune and looked ahead. The desert had a kind of stark beauty. A line of mountains crested the horizon, and the air was incredibly crisp and clear. Still, Xander hated it. If he didn't walk almost thirty-five miles a day on a bad ankle it would be the death of him. Xander cursed the Powers inwardly and started forward at a fast walk.

* * *

Half an hour after Xander had left the wrecked Pelican the first helicopter arrived at the crash site. Less than six hours after that helicopters were flying over the desert in every direction looking for survivors and SG-1 was on scene, surveying the wreckage. 

Jack looked over at Carter, who was in the remains of the cockpit, pouring excitedly over the wrecked but still fascinating technology of the ship. Something was bugging him about this whole thing. "Carter?"

"Yes sir?" Major Carter answered without looking up.

"Have we ever seen one of these ships before?" Jack asked, scratching his head. "It seems kinda familiar."

"No sir I don't think so. It's certainly not like any design I've ever seen," Carter replied. "It seems to be some kind of short range transport and gunship, not unlike a V-22 Osprey. But what's really interesting is how simple yet effective the technology is. I think with some reverse engineering we'd have a shot at reproducing a lot of technology from this ship."

"You don't see anything that looks like a recall device in there, do you?" Jack asked warily.

Carter smiled. "These systems are a lot closer to our own sir, I'm sure we won't have a repeat of the X-301 incident."

"Yes well, tell that to whoever flies it the first time because I'm sure as hell not going to." Jack replied. He left Sam to work and went to talk to Teal'c, who was surveying the desert.

"T buddy, ever seen anything like this ship?" Jack asked.

"I have not O'Neill, but like you I find the shape oddly familiar," Teal'c rumbled.

"Well we must have come across it somewhere, let me know if you remember anything. It's too much of a coincidence for both of us to recognize it." Jack turned and headed towards a small command tent, which had been set up to coordinate the sweep of the desert. He pushed through the canvas flap covering the entrance and walked in to see several men bent over laptops set on hastily erected tables. Most appeared to be watching camera or FLIR footage from some of the helicopters participating the in search, while some were watching screens from a mobile radar and controlling the search choppers.

Jack walked up to the closest lieutenant. "Anything yet, Lieutenant?"

The officer shook his head. "Nothing yet sir. There's a lot of desert out there and the sand is washing away any tracks. And we don't have any satellite imagery in this area because, well sir, we're in the middle of the damn desert."

Jack nodded. Satellites were being repositioned but it would be another four hours before they had even sporadic coverage of the area. The US government didn't generally waste satellites staring at the middle of an American desert. "Any survivors can't have gone far, we got here pretty fast. Stick to a five mile radius." He turned to leave as the officer replied.

"Yes sir, find anything helpful in the Pelican?"

Jack whipped around. "WHAT did you say?"

The officer smiled meekly. "The ship sir, it's looks like a Pelican. You know, from the Halo video game?"

Jack spun around and jogged outside to get another look at the ship. One of the engine pods was ripped off completely, and the stubby wings were sheared off two more. The hull was dented and bent, but now that his memory had been jogged the shape was unmistakable. "Oh for cryin' out loud, you have got to be kidding me!" Jack shouted. He spun to the lieutenant, who'd followed him out. "Get General Hammond on the line and I mean NOW!"

* * *

Xander gritted his teeth against the pain as he continued his fast walk towards the frustratingly distant Sunnydale. He had moved as fast as he felt he could away from the ship, and was now nine miles away from the crash site. He figured, and Cortana had agreed, that the initial search radius would be small. By jogging and fast walking, he had cleared that distance as fast as he could and figured he had done a good job of throwing off the search. The sounds of choppers were distant, and night was drawing close. Night would give much needed cover, and maybe a chance for a couple hours rest. 

"Goddamn PTB. This is their idea of giving me a break?" Xander said angrily. "Hit the ground at mach 2, then walk one hundred miles through the desert in three days. The only breaks I get are ducking choppers and stopping to eat a Meal Rejected by Enemy. And you just know some geek at the crash site is gonna recognize the Pelican, and someone else is gonna figure out the truck at the military base was a Warthog, and they'll get together and make my life more of a pain in the ass then it already is. I hate everything and everyone."

"Relax Xander, it could be worse." Cortana said.

"Really, and how's that?" Xander asked. "And don't even bother telling me someone could be shooting us, because to be honest I wouldn't mind blowing something away right now. So other than someone shooting at us, how could this be worse?"

"Okay, I admit this is pretty bad. But at least you have my charming company." Cortana replied. "Come on Xander, quit whining. You're supposed to be a soldier, and a heroic one at that."

"Maybe I'm tired of playing the heroic soldier," Xander snapped back. "Maybe after we get back I'm just gonna go back to being a teenager again. Vampires are one thing, but all out war is horrible. I sick of the fighting. I'm tired of bleeding, of getting broken and burnt. I'm tired of having to kill. Maybe when I get home I'm just gonna hang this suit up and never put it on again."

Cortana remained silent. She decided it was probably a good idea not to mention that once they got home, he might not be able to use the suit again whether or not he wanted to.

* * *

All doubt of the origin of the ship was put to rest when Carter found the UNSC serialization plate in the cockpit. She was flummoxed, as was everyone else at the crash site. Jack looked at the ship and shook his head in disbelief. A real, honest to god Pelican had crashed in the middle of the desert. How the hell did that happen? Where did it come from? 

"Carter?" Jack asked. Sam looked up at his with a kind of glazed disbelief in her eyes. "Is there any, and I mean ANY, chance at all that this ship came from Earth? Maybe someone thought the Pelican looked cool and made their own?"

Carter considered for a moment. "It might be possible, if someone had access to off-world technology. But I would say it's extremely unlikely."

"As unlikely as a ship from a video game crashing into our planet?" Jack asked.

"Well no, but not as far off as you'd think," Sam replied. "Sir, this ship isn't like anything we've ever come across. There is far more similarity to our own systems than anything the Goa'uld have ever come up with, but it's just so advanced! This is years ahead of us, decades even. If someone on Earth made this ship, they had a lot of outside help."

"Well someone must have help then," Jack decided. "What other explanation could there be?"

* * *

After a little over sixty hours in the harsh desert climate, Xander stumbled into the Sunnydale city limits. He was hurting, he was hungry, he was thirsty, and he was more tired than he had ever been in his life. Over the past two and a half days he had slept only four hours. Being careful to stick to the outskirts of the town, Xander made his way to his warehouse. As soon as he entered he felt the cool sensation in the back of his head fade and Cortana's holographic form appeared in front of him. She helped him out of the charred and battered armour then directed him to the medical bay. 

Xander limped heavily over to the sink and took three full glasses of water before lying down on the hospital bed. He knew Cortana wanted to take a look at his wrist and his foot, but he simply couldn't summon the energy to stay awake. Only minutes after lying down on top of the sheets fully clothed, Xander was asleep. Cortana decided to let him sleep, his injuries weren't life threatening. She contacted the Scoobies to let them know that Xander was home, then started examining the battered Mjolnir armour.

* * *

Jack, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c sat in the briefing room of the SGC. After more than two days without any luck on the search, the team had pulled off it and went back the Colorado for a debriefing. Hammond looked at his team members, then sighed.

"So Colonel, there's been no luck finding any survivors from the crash?"

"No sir," Jack replied. "I'd say at this point if there was anyone flying the ship they've either gotten away or died in the desert somewhere."

Hammond looked to Carter. "Is it possible the ship was flown by remote?"

Carter nodded. "Yes sir the ship has all the necessary systems to be flown remotely. I'd think that given the lack of a body or any blood at the crash scene that being flown by remote is the most likely scenario."

"I need to understand what we're dealing with Major. Is this an alien ship?" Hammond asked.

Carter sighed, and Jack smirked slightly. "I can't give you an answer sir. I'd say yes, if it weren't a ship out of a video game. I looked at pictures from the video game. In and out, this thing is undeniably a Pelican. It even has a serialization plate that labels it as a UNSC ship."

"So it must have come from Earth then," Hammond reasoned.

"But it's way too advanced sir!" Carter burst out, looking very frustrated. "No one on Earth could have built this without help from aliens, but the technology isn't like anything I've ever come across."

"Are there any other possibilities?" Hammond asked.

"Actually, there might be a couple," Daniel said. "I mean, we've traveled to alternate realities and traveled through time. Isn't it possible, however unlikely, that this ship came from another time or reality?"

"Okay, time maybe," Jack conceded, "but another reality? Where Halo is real? Come on, I mean that's just, stupid."

"Actually sir it's not as impossible as you might think," Carter answered. "I mean, theoretically there are an infinite number of universes and therefore anything is possible. It's entirely possible that there exists a reality in which Halo is real, or even one where the events surrounding the Stargate are a game or TV show."

Everyone in the briefing room looked at Sam skeptically.

"Come on Carter, us on TV? Who would watch that?" Jack asked.

"Anyway sir," Sam said with a smile, "Daniel does have a valid point. We may very well be dealing with temporal or dimensional displacement. Maybe someone was conducting some kind of experiment into time or dimensional travel with the ship. When it appeared above out planet they just got unlucky and hit something."

"Is there some kind of test that we can do to provide evidence for that?" Hammond asked.

"I don't know sir, I can take a look and see if we can find anything. Materials not native to our universe or something along those lines," Carter mused.

Hammond sighed. "The bottom line is I need to tell the President something, people. Colonel, in your opinion, should we classify this as a foothold?"

Jack shook his head. "I wouldn't sir. We've found no evidence of anyone alive or dead in the desert, and Carter already said the ship could be flown remotely. I think this was just an accident. As for where the ship is from, turn it over to the eggheads at Area 51, let them figure it out."

Hammond nodded. "I suppose that will have to do. Major, if this ship is from another reality, see if you can find some kind of proof. I'll give you three days before we hand the ship to Area 51. I know they're going to be very anxious to get their hands on it. Dismissed."

* * *

Xander woke up, feeling sore all over but at least somewhere close to comfortable. He noticed that an IV was hooked to his right arm, and his left wrist was wrapped in bandages. Lifting the covers slightly, he saw bandages around his mid-section as well. He was debating whether or not to go back to sleep with he heard a door slam. 

"XANDER!" Willow shrieked as she ran over to his bed. She wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Broken ribs! Broken ribs!" Xander yelped, and Willow loosened her grip. He grinned at his best friend. "Hey Wills, good to see you too." He looked behind her to see Buffy, Giles and Oz standing near his bed, smiling at him. "Hi guys, have a good summer?"

"It was pretty good," Buffy replied. "Went to LA for a week with my mom, found a demon slave camp in another dimension. How was yours?"

"Oh you know, the usual. Met the Master Chief, fought the Flood, set off a nuke that'll crack a planet, and saved the galaxy." Xander grinned.

"Okay, you win." Buffy grumbled.

"Everything okay with your mom?" Xander asked.

Buffy and Giles exchanged a look. "Yes, and no. It's different, she dotes more." Buffy replied. "I don't think she'll ever completely accept it."

"She's understandably concerned about her daughter," Giles said. "I do think she's taking it more in stride than many mothers would. But what about you Xander? Are you all right? You look a little, er, worse for wear."

Xander frowned. "The Powers brought me back into our reality on a collision course with a satellite. We crashed in the desert and I've spent the last two and a half days walking here on a bad ankle. Plus Cortana said there's a lot of damage to my armour, where is she anyway?"

Cortana materialized out of thin air at the foot of the bed. She looked downcast. "Hi Xander, I've been working on the armour."

"How bad is it?" He asked.

Cortana looked at him, biting her lip. "The entire fusion power pack has been compromised, it's going to have be rebuilt."

Xander grimaced. "So how long is it going to be? A few days, a week?"

Cortana sighed. "I can't fix it Xander. You have to understand, the Mjolnir armour takes incredible amounts of power from a very small source. No element on Earth has enough potential energy."

"I don't understand," Giles said. "How did they create it in the first place then?"

"I said no element on Earth, not no element period," Cortana replied. "The power pack is centered around a highly concentrated core of an element called naquadah. Unfortunately, naquadah is not native to Earth, or even this solar system. I'm sorry Xander, but without a new naquadah core I can't repair your armour."

The room went silent for a moment. Finally, Oz broke the silence, summing the situation up perfectly in just one word. "Bummer."

End chap 15

**Hope you guys liked the chapter, please leave a review!**


	16. Back Home and Dead Tired

**Hey everyone, thanks for reviewing and sorry about the wait. I had a really hard time writing this chapter, and this is about the 5th rewrite that you're reading now. Anyways hope you like it, on with the story!**

**Chapter 16**

"So there's nothing we can do to fix it?" Xander asked while wrapping a tensor bandage around his still healing ribs. After Cortana's news he had changed the subject, caught up with Buffy and the gang about their summer and promised they'd hang out when he healed up a bit more. With them gone though, he returned to the matter of his armour.

"No Xander, I'm sorry. Without a source of naquadah we are out of luck." Cortana replied, crossing her arms and leaning against a nearby wall.

"Well the other Pelican is still out in the cave, right?" Xander asked. "Can we salvage anything from it?"

Cortana gave Xander a look. "Don't you think with my, ahem, impressive intellect I might have considered that possibility? No Xander, a Pelican is just a short range transport. It uses a much more conventional liquid fuel source. I might be able to get the armour working to a point where most base systems are functional, but shields? Not a chance, I'm sorry."

Xander nodded, numb with the realization that his armour was out of the equation. As much as he had hated the idea of even learning to use it at first, he had come to think of the suit as a second skin. Losing it felt vaguely like losing a limb. "Well at least we won't have to worry about the Covenant anymore, after all I've been through vamps are going to seem like a cinch."

--------

Four days later Xander was healed and back at school. He walked into the library to the peculiar sound of a cat meowing, and a less than pleasant smell. "Okay, who did that? Giles, I'm looking at you."

Giles gave Xander a stern look then motioned for him to come over and look at the cat in the carrier. The cat inside was a black cat that looked a little worse for wear. But then Xander saw it's milky dead stare. "Huh, a zombie cat."

"Yes Buffy found a dead stray last night, and this morning it had dug itself out of it's grave. It's most curious, isn't it?" Giles replied.

"Did it bite anyone?" Xander asked sharply. "I swear to god if this turns into a zombie attack I'm not gonna be held responsible for my actions. I'm so damn tired of zombies."

"So far as I know this is an isolated incident Xander, do try to calm down." Giles looked at the cat then down at a book he was studying. "I'll let you know when I know more. If you're looking for the girls I believe they're in the cafeteria."

"Thanks Gman." Xander turned and walked out of the library, glad to leave the smell of the dead cat behind.

---------

Xander dropped down into a seat opposite Buffy in the cafeteria and grimaced as the impact tweaked a few of the numerous bruises that covered his body and Buffy smiled in sympathy. "Aww is my Xander shaped friend a little sore?" She asked.

"Quiet you," Xander replied. "At least this time I got some recognition out of it. Admiral Hood made me a Chief Petty Officer so he could give me the Navy Cross."

"Ooh, is it shiny?" Buffy asked. "Just think, you went and saved the galaxy and they gave you a hunk of metal in return. Sounds like a great deal."

"Well not when you put it like that, no." Xander agreed. "I don't know why, but for some reason it meant a lot to me. Maybe it was just because someone actually said thanks for once. Anyway, enough about me and my heroic adventures in another dimension, anything interesting happen while I was gone other than your trip to LA?"

Buffy shrugged. "No, it's been pretty quiet all summer actually."

"What's the situation with you and the fanged wonder?"

Buffy seemed to deflate a little. "We're not seeing very much of each other. He thinks it's best if he keeps his distance."

Xander nodded. "Good, I don't often agree with Angel but that's the right call on his part."

Buffy's eyes flashed in anger. "The right call according to who? He won't even talk to me. Why don't I get a part in this decision?"

Xander sighed. Even though he didn't like Deadboy he felt for Buffy. That said, she needed a dose of reality. "Look Buffy, I know you've probably heard it all and I'm probably not the best one to lay it out for you, but you've been dating a souled, 200 year old corpse okay? Not only that but any time the two of you get horizontal he turns evil. How can it possibly work? You're just teasing each other. Are you never going to have sex again for the rest of your life? Your relationship with Angel will never work, I'm sorry."

Buffy looked on the verge of tears, but she nodded. "I know, Xander. It just… still really hurts okay?"

Xander nodded. "I'm sure it does Buff. Look, you need to stop thinking about Angel, okay? Quit moping. There are tons of fish in the sea, and unlike Deadboy, a lot of them actually have a pulse and can stand outside in the day! You need to find a nice, normal or at least living guy to date."

Buffy looked him in the eyes with startling intensity. "Like you, Xander?"

That stopped Xander dead. Strangely, it hadn't actually been on his mind at the time he said it. After two years of pining and hoping, Xander had pretty much given up any hope of he and Buffy getting together. "Well, not sure that I'd qualify as normal." He replied, looking at her evenly. "Seems to me last time I asked you out you said you didn't think of me that way and didn't want to spoil our friendship."

"That was more than a year ago," Buffy replied. "A lot of things have changed since then."

Before Xander could reply, the bell rang. What seemed like a fraction of a second later, Snyder was standing over their table. "Miss Summers, Mister Harris you heard the bell didn't you? That means stop your pointless discussion and get to your classes, not that any kind of education will do either of you juvenile delinquents any good." Buffy rolled her eyes and Xander used all his willpower to bite back a retort. They both gathered their bags and Buffy headed away from Xander to her class, leaving Xander feeling quite confused.

--------

By the end of the day, Xander was feeling even stranger. While in the past girls had ignored him, a lot now flirted with him or cast him appreciative glances. One even asked him out. Worried that something mystical was happening, Xander went to find Willow in the library, who was doing her homework with Cortana watching over, looking bored.

"Something really weird's been happening all day." Xander announced. Both Cortana and Willow looked at him seriously.

"What's going on?" Cortana asked.

"Girls have been flirting with me all day, even Buffy!" Xander explained. "Did someone cast a spell or something?"

Willow and Cortana looked at each other in surprise, then they both started laughing.

Xander looked at them, alarmed. "Come on guys this is serious! Isn't it?"

"Xander why does it surprise you that girls are flirting with you?" Cortana asked. "You're a senior, you're a good looking guy, you're funny and you have a car."

"Plus you stopped wearing those awful Hawaiian shirts," Willow added.

Cortana nodded. "I kept going through his closet and throwing them out."

"But I'm unpopular! I'm like the least popular guy in school!" Xander answered.

"Xander, ask yourself when was the last time anybody picked on you. Can you remember?" Cortana asked. "You're not the same person you were two years ago, and it shows. Everyone's noticed."

"Xander, Buffy and I talked a lot about you over the summer." Willow said. "Do you know how scared she was she'd never see you again? How scared we both were? I think it made her realize, you know, you mean a lot more to her than she thought."

"Well, I suppose worrying someone is dead will do that," Xander conceded. A flicker of hope welled up in his chest. For the first time in a long time Xander considered the possibility that he and Buffy could be together. Clearly, Cortana could see the look on his face because she cleared her throat.

"Slow down there lover boy. Look I don't want to be the voice of negativity but maybe you should give her a little time before you do anything here. She did just break up with her boyfriend who, despite him turning into an evil monster for a while, she clearly loved. Have you considered that this could be a rebound thing?"

"I haven't, but it might be a good point," Xander conceded. "That's probably a good idea Cortana."

"So," Willow said, changing the subject. "Buffy told me you got the Navy Cross. I think she was a bit jealous, seeing as how she's never got a medal for saving the world."

Xander smiled. "Well maybe we should throw her a surprise party or something, show her how much we appreciate her and her world save-age."

Willow nodded in excitement. "Ooh I bet Mrs. Summers would like that too, she'd probably help with that. I bet I could get Oz to play there too, I'll go find him." Willow skipped out of the library before anyone could respond.

Xander just shook his head. "Sometimes the amount of energy she has is astounding," he muttered.

"Xander I'm not certain that a part right now is the best course of action," Giles warned. "We still don't know what's causing our undead cat and I do think we should make it our top priority."

"Relax, Gman." Xander said, standing to leave. "I just got back from another dimension and I know I could use a night of relaxation, and I bet the girls probably could too. Besides, we'll be having the party at Buffy's house, under parental supervision. What could go wrong?"

--------

'Me and my big mouth,' Xander thought as he loaded another clip into his pistol. He took aim and put a round between an approaching zombie's eyes, dropping yet another member of the undead horde. The party had been going great and everyone was having a good time, until legions of the undead had shown up with Giles hot on their heels. While he and Buffy had gone upstairs to destroy the mask that was causing it, Xander had stayed downstairs with Oz to fight of the crowd and buy them some time. It was a battle that even with a gun and superhuman abilities, Xander knew he couldn't win. There were simply too many zombies and he had too few bullets. Suddenly the zombies all stopped and howled and seemed to cower for a moment, and in that time Xander heard the a window upstairs shatter and saw a couple figures fall onto the front lawn. Taking a second to dispatch several more zombies with well placed shots, Xander ran for the door and burst out to see Buffy frozen in place with some kind of demon woman approaching her.

"Buffy!" He shouted, causing the demon to spin around. He raised his gun to shoot but her eyes flashed at him and he suddenly found himself frozen in place. Though he was concerned about being frozen, is he could he would have smiled as Buffy raised a shovel behind the demon.

"Hey Pat!" The demon spun to look and Buffy slammed the blade of the shovel into her glowing eyes. The demon screamed for a second then vanished in a flash of light, along with all the zombie minions. Xander found himself able to move again and sighed in relief.

"Well, at least we don't have to clean up all the corpses," he muttered. "Thanks Buff, you okay?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah I'm fine. I hate party crashers," she said with a smirk.

Xander smiled. "Oh yeah, so rude. I gotta say I think I hate your mom's taste in art right now too. And you three!" He turned around to see Giles, Willow and Oz standing in the doorway. "Haven't any of you seen a Romero movie before? You have to destroy the brain, stabbing them doesn't do anything. I'm especially disappointed in you, Gman. You should know better."

"Yes, well, erm… good point Xander." Giles said, looking sheepish.

"Sorry your party got wrecked, Buffy." Willow said consolingly.

Buffy shrugged. "Hey by now I'm used to it. I mean after the hellmouth opening for homecoming and robotic aliens attacking movie night I'd even say zombies was pretty tame."

"It just goes to show how seriously messed up our lives are that I agree with you," Xander said with a sigh. "Come on, we should probably help Mrs. Summers clean up."

---------

Cortana was irritated. She was searching all of Earth's classified projects and tapping into every kind of geological sensor she could to try and find a trace of the mineral needed to fix the armour. Not only was she having no luck, but also she knew that she didn't have that much time left to figure out an answer. Between the information she had absorbed from the Covenant and Forerunner races she had used up quite a bit of her available memory. Though she hadn't told Xander this yet, AI's like Cortana had a finite life span. Usually six to seven years before they became too bloated with information and literally thought themselves to death. Though Cortana was only a year and a half old, the amount of information she contained had shortened her effective life span considerably. She estimated she had approximately one year left before she became non-functional.

She knew she had to tell Xander, but with all the stress he had been under for the last few weeks, the last thing he needed to hear was that his friend was dying. Still, before she was gone it was important that she did this last thing for him, no matter what it took.

Cortana paused in her search. In a number of classified documents now she had come across the acronym SGC, but had not yet found any documents pertaining to what it was the SGC was. Immediately switching priorities she began searching for the SGC. Though she was able to determine that the program was located in the Cheyenne mountain complex and was officially a deep space radar telemetry program, she could not find any details that actually gave any definite information on the program. She paused for a microsecond. Only a program of monumental secrecy and importance would have a blackout this big. All the information must be stored on non-networked computers. Though her hologram wasn't active, if she had eyes at the moment she would have narrowed them. Finding out what the SGC was had just become her top priority.

**End Chap 16**

**Thanks for reading, and sorry again about the wait. I know it's been a long time and hopefully my next chapter will be up in less time. Thanks again for reading and please leave a review!**


	17. Introductions

**Hey everyone, sorry for the long time to update. I've been busy with work and ground school and I've really struggled with the direction I wanted this story, and the character relationships to go. Anyway I think I've got it figured out now so here's the first of what I hope will be a few quick updated chapters**

**Chapter 17**

For a few fleeting days, things seemed back to normal in Sunnydale, or at least as close to normal as Sunnydale ever got. Xander patrolled, trained, and in the spots in between tried to act the part of a normal teenager. And then Faith showed up, and suddenly things got… complicated.

They were out for a night at the Bronze when they saw her first, dancing with what they quickly suspected was a vampire. When the group followed the couple outside, they were treated to the spectacle of Faith totally going to town on the vamp. Faith snagged Buffy's stake and jammed it home, introducing herself at the same time.

It was obvious from the moment they met her that Faith was an entirely different type of slayer than Buffy or Kendra. She seemed to be fuelled entirely on emotion, often hitting a vampire more than was strictly necessary before she staked them. While Buffy fought with a smooth grace that had an undercurrent of efficiency, Faith was a down and dirty brawler. But what she lacked in training she certainly seemed to make up for in ferocity. Xander couldn't help but be somewhat attracted not just to her stunning looks, but her sultry and energetic attitude as well. Still, while he liked her, her extended stay in Sunnydale posed a problem for him, and for the group too. In order to bring her into the group really, she had to be made aware of Xander and Cortana, and no one was really sure they were ready to do that yet.

"What do we know about her, really?" Buffy asked. "Yeah she's a slayer and everyone seems to like her but can we trust someone we met with this information? What if she tells the Watcher's Council?"

"I understand there are risks Buffy, but we can't very well keep it from her if we're going to be working with her, can we?" Giles replied. "I'm certain Xander's not willing to stop patrolling indefinitely, and we certainly can't work closely with the girl and keep this from her, we rely far too much on Cortana for research."

"The communicators would probably be hard to explain too," Willow added.

"She just seems… shifty," Buffy said, biting her lip. "Something's up with her that she's not telling us. Xander, what do you think?"

Xander thought for a moment. Faith was outgoing and loved to tell stories from her slaying adventures, but she would deflect certain questions and every once in a while, the mask would slip, just for a tiny second. "I think you're right Buffy, she's not telling us something. But we need to tell her sometime if she's going to stay here. Tell you what, I'll hold off for a couple days while we figure out what's going on. But unless she gives us a reason not to trust her, I'm going to tell her. I don't see any other choice."

* * *

Three days later everything was brought to light when Kaskistos showed up, and after Buffy helped Faith take him down, Xander decided to call a meeting to clear the air and bring Faith into the group.

A nervous looking but defiant Faith sat in the library with her arms crossed, staring at the Scoobies, sans Cortana, assembled in front of her. "Look, what's this meeting about yo? I said I was sorry for the whole Kakistos thing, that was my bad. It won't happen again."

Giles nodded. "We know Faith, this isn't about that. But if you're going to stay here and work with us, there are some things you need to be made aware of."

"Please don't tell me you just called me here to have a ground rules meeting, cause you're wasting your time," Faith said, rolling her eyes. "I play by my rules, and if you don't like it that's too bad."

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Relax Faith, nothing like that. It's just that there's some stuff about, well, maybe I should let Xander explain."

"Thanks Buff. Okay Faith, did anyone tell you about the Halloween incident last year?"

"Incident? Is that you being all diplomatic about getting drunk and waking up next to someone you don't know or something?"

Xander grinned. "Oh if only it were that simple. No, what happened was that last year a chaos mage came to town and opened a costume shop. He sold a bunch of people in town costumes, then Halloween night he cast a spell that turned everyone into what they were wearing. Willow was wearing a ghost costume, and turned into a ghost, Buffy here turned into a helpless 19th century noblewoman-"

Faith burst out laughing. "You're shitting me, B was all helpless and girly and afraid? Damn I woulda paid good money to see that."

"And I," Xander continued while trying to stifle a laugh, "dress up as the Master Chief, you know, from the Halo games? Thing is, I didn't just turn into the Master Chief, I also got a tagalong."

"Yeah, Cortana right?" Faith asked. "What, none of you play video games once in a while?" Faith asked as the others stared at her in surprise.

"You're right Faith. Anyway the thing is, when Giles broke the spell and turned everyone back into themselves, since Cortana wasn't overriding anyone's personality like all the other costumes, she didn't go anywhere." To back up Xander's claim, Cortana, using her old translucent avatar, shimmered into view near the table.

She waved to Faith. "Hi Faith, nice to finally meet you." She then flickered for a moment and reappeared in her human styled form. "Sorry about keeping you in the dark, but this was a big decision on our part."

Faith was trying to keep a composed look, but wasn't having a lot of success. Finally she burst out, "Are you SHITTING ME?! This is a joke, right? Like a magic trick or something?"

"No joke, and actually there's more," Xander replied. "See, thing is, in order for Cortana to survive in this reality, the suit couldn't turn back into a costume, because then it wouldn't have had any place to store her. And no normal human could survive in that armour, so, in order for both me and her to remain alive…"

"If you're about to say what I think you are-"

"Yeah," Xander nodded, "I'm a Spartan. Super strength, biomechanical implants, increased bone density, the whole deal."

Faith laughed. "You know what? You almost had me. The Cortana thing was a great trick, but if you really wanted to sell if you shoulda brought the armour!"

"Armour's wrecked, that's a whole other story," Cortana said. "But we don't need it to give you proof. Buffy, Xander? Care to give a demonstration?"

Xander nodded and Buffy grinned. "I always like sparring with Xander, he's so much harder to break than Giles."

The group cleared room in the center of the library while Xander and Buffy put on some light sparring gloves, then moved into the center. Faith watched with interest as the two circled slowly. Xander looked at Buffy seriously. "Don't hold back okay? We need to put on a good show here."

Buffy just grinned and winked at him, then she attacked. She jumped up, starting with a flying kick before moving in with a barrage of punches and kicks as she moved around him. Xander, while mostly on the defensive, was there to block almost all of them and those that he couldn't he absorbed with little more than a grunt. Faith took a moment to appreciate her sister slayer's smooth and fluid, almost dance like style before shifting her attention to Xander. Xander was definitely not as flowing, but it wasn't for lack of skill or technique. His fighting style was simply more about results than style or smoothness. Every move was the shortest possible movement, as economic as possible. Though he kept from hitting her hard, Faith could tell that most of his blows were designed to be incapacitating at full strength. Unlike Buffy, who would wear an opponent down, Xander was more about breaking them. Each move if it connected was designed to reverse joints, break bones, or disable the target in some way. It looked very military and Faith suspected it would be quite effective if Xander was actually trying to take down his opponent.

As this was a sparring match however, Xander's style was actually kind of handicapping him. He wasn't actually trying to put his moves to best effectiveness, unlike Buffy who was definitely connecting more often and harder. After a few minutes of this, Buffy wrestled Xander to the ground and trapped his head in a leg lock. Xander struggled for a moment but even with his Spartan upgrades he still wasn't as strong as a slayer, so finally he tapped out. Buffy released him and they both stood up, out of breath and in Xander's case pretty sore.

"You were still pulling your punches Xander!" Buffy accused.

"Yo B, you should be glad he was. I saw at least three moves that would've broken bones," Faith said. "And by the way, a leg lock?"

Buffy just batted her eyes at Xander. "It worked didn't it?"

Xander turned slightly red and smiled. "No objections here." He turned to face Faith. "So there you go, I just went head to head with a Slayer for a few minutes, no normal human could do that. You've met Cortana, and I think you know at this point that we're not pulling your leg."

Faith considered this, then nodded. "Okay X-man, I believe you."

Xander nodded. "Good. Now Faith, I want you to understand that the reason we're telling you this is because we trust you, and we want you to do the same. This is our secret, very few people know about it and we don't want the Watcher's Council finding out. Can we trust you?"

Faith nodded, "My lips are sealed yo. But what's with the hush up? Don't you think the boys at the council would be happy to know that we've got some solid backup out here?"

Giles sighed and rubbed his glasses. "I actually rather think they'd try to get Xander under their thumb, something I believe would go badly for both parties."

"Also, we've had a couple of altercations with the military and we'd prefer to keep a low profile," Cortana added. "Some high level politicians and agencies have been making inquiries, and I think as a general rule when politicians start snooping around, it's probably a bad thing."

"Do I even want to know?" Faith asked, looking amused.

Xander waved his hand. "There was thing whole thing with this evil guy Warren and some robots he made attacking a military base, and we may or may not have busted through in a jeep with a huge gun on the back."

"And then there was your crash landing in the desert," Willow pointed out. "That probably raised some eyebrows."

Faith grinned. "Okay, you gotta tell me about the army base."

Buffy nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah it was great, I got to use a rocket launcher!"

"So Xander's a Spartan, Willow's training to be a witch, you've got a virtual person in the room with us, anything else to make our lives interesting?" Faith asked.

"My boyfriend's a werewolf," Willow added. "Don't forget that. And don't slay him, that's not allowed."

"Man, you're a messed up little group, you know that?" Faith said with a laugh.

"And now you're part of it," Xander said, presenting Faith with a communicator. "You can use this to contact any of us, anytime and anywhere. Welcome to the team."

Faith nodded, then smiled. "So, what's this about you driving a jeep through an army base?"

* * *

Colonel Jack O'Neill walked into Carter's lab, bored and looking to pester his 2IC for a while until he could actually get her to stop working and join the team for a night off that night. "Caaaaarter, don't you ever just stop?" He asked. "When was the last time you went home?"

"I'm sorry sir, I've just been really wrapped up with this whole Pelican thing. The potential technological gains we could make are massive." Carter replied, not looking up. "If we could reverse engineer the technology for the inertial dampeners we could-"

"Ah! I get it, it would be good. But you know what else would be good? A beer and a hockey game. Some people refer to it as recreation, you may be familiar with the concept, at least in theory." Jack replied sarcastically.

Before he could say more his cell phone rang. He sighed and picked it up. "O'Neill here."

"Jack! How are you doing these days?" A very unwelcome voice replied.

"I was doing just fine Maybourne, until you called," Jack answered grumpily. "What do you want?"

"Is that any way to treat a friend?" Maybourne asked in a mock wounded tone.

"No but fortunately you don't fall into that category," Jack replied. "Now I'll ask again, why are you calling?"

"To business then, fine. I was made aware of your little find in the desert, the one that seems to have come right out of a video game." Maybourne said.

Jack rolled his eyes. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Of course not, why would you?" Maybourne deadpanned. "Look, I'm just calling because I think you might want to know that this may not be an isolated incident. I'm sending you a video file I pulled off a security camera from a military base about 150 miles from the crash site."

Jack motioned for Carter to pull up his email. She did so, and opened up a video of what appeared to be a Warthog driving through the gate and opened fire with a large gun. A man and woman were in the front seats, their faces obscured by the curve of the windscreen. However, clearly visible at the controls of the gun was what was clearly identifiable as the Master Chief.

"Oh for crying out loud! That can't be real!" Jack shouted.

"I assure you it is," Maybourne said. "But what's really interesting about this video is that it was taken four months before the ship crashed in the desert."

"I'm sorry Maybourne, I must have misheard you. Did you say something crazy like this happened BEFORE the ship crashed?"

"You heard me right. Now, I'm not one to try and tell someone how to do their job and all," Jack could hear Maybourne's smug smile, "but if I were in the business of defending the planet from aliens, I might be inclined to check this out. Especially since the NID is already looking into it. And you know how reliable and forthcoming they can be."

"Of course. So why are YOU being so forthcoming?" Jack asked. "What's your angle, Maybourne?"

"This time there's no angle, I swear. Just keep in mind that you owe me a favour, and one day I might come to collect," Maybourne replied. "And be careful out there, I can't collect my favour if you get killed."

"Your concern is touching," Jack said sarcastically. He hung up and looked to Carter. "Call Hammond, I think a trip to California is in our very near future."

**End Chap 17**

**I know this is a bit of a short chapter but I hope to have another one up very soon. Thanks for reading and please leave a review!**


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